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The latest local and national UK and International news.
MOD shipbuilding order “must not be downgraded” as budget cuts bite
What have the Conservatives got against the UK shipbuilding industry, asks GMB? GMB, the union for shipbuilding workers, says the Conservative Government must not be allowed to downgrade the Royal Navy any more by ‘sneaking’ out of their obligation to build three Royal Navy Auxiliary vessels. The Ministry of Defence today announced it may only commission two new Fleet Solid Support ships – rather than the three that were expected. The new ships are required to replenish the UK’s £6.3 billion...
Bad day Branson? Virgin East Coast to be renationalised
The East Coast Mainline renationalised by government after Virgin Trains deal terminated after a troubled tenure, with many passengers complaining of sky high tickets prices, and the private operators claiming they can turn a profit. Trains will be now be run by the Department for Transport (DfT) from 24 June this year. “We are surprised and disappointed that the Department for Transport has chosen not to proceed with our proposals,” said Martin Griffiths, chief executive of Stagecoach, who run the...
“Rotten” Carillion collapsed due to “recklessness, hubris & greed”
MPs have slammed the senior levels of management at Carillion for its untimely demise. Carillion’s auditor KPMG, was also heavily criticised, with MPs claiming they were “complicit” in the company’s “questionable” accounting practices. A hugely damning report, that runs to 100 pages, has been compiled by two select committees on the matter. One of the most shocking findings is that Carillion’s directors focused on bonus pay-outs to senior executives even as the firm teetered on the brink of collapse. Additionally...
These are the biggest blunders made by employees on their first day at work
Arriving late, wearing inappropriate clothes - and bumping a colleague’s vehicle in the car park are among the biggest blunders made by employees on their first day at work, a study has found. A poll of almost 3,000 workers revealed almost half have made a bad first impression after having a terrible or humiliating start to a new job. Others arrived to find they were completely over-dressed, spilled tea everywhere, got lost en-route to the office and said something inappropriate...
Scientists unveil world’s fastest ‘kettle’
It heated water from room temperature to 100,000 degrees Centigrade - in under a trillionth of a second
Another company is moving away from UK due to Brexit
As the date to leave the EU comes ever closer another company is jumping ship before Brexit actually begins. This time it is Thomson Reuters who have said they will shift their foreign exchange derivatives trading to Ireland. The outfit will relocate to Dublin so they can continue to do business within the EU. There are fears of a mass exodus of companies, especially in financial services, in the run up to Brexit. A spokesperson said: “Thomson Reuters has commenced...
Student activists have spray painted the outside walls of Cambridge University
They targeted the Senate House which is over a thousand years old.
Scientists are using the most unlikely part of Britain to model as Mars
The Dorset countryside - forever associated with the novels of Thomas Hardy - has stood in for Mars as scientists hunt for life on the red planet
Home Office tells couples it separated to maintain their marriage via Skype
The Home Office are telling couples who they have refused the right to remain to use "modern channels" to maintain their relationship. According to campaigners, the ministerial department responsible for immigration is refusing thousands of people the right to remain in the UK each year and telling families that while they will be separated, the existence of phones, messaging apps, Facebook, and other internet modes of communication makes the distance immaterial. The new policy is designed to head off judicial challenge...