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Families in low paid work, armed forces families and foster children will be surprised to learn they are not ordinary, says GMB union. The Education Secretary has branded 68 per cent of England’s children not normal in a speech to promote grammar schools. Children who are eligible for the pupil premium and free schools meals, including children from armed forces families and families with foster children, are all not ordinary according to the Secretary of State. The Department for Education...

Costa Coffee has been lambasted for strangling independent chains after it opened its eleventh branch in Cheltenham despite 70 per cent of residents saying they don't want it. The High Street giant is about to open a new outlet immediately next door to rivals SOHO Coffee Co at a prime site in the so-called "coffee capital". It will mean a total of 19 big-name coffee shops in the centre of the spa town - in addition to a wide range of independent...

Firefighters battled to put out a massive fire after five lorries containing 45,000 litres of fuel burst into flames at an industrial estate. Police were also at the scene to provide a safe cordon around the incident and launched the force helicopter to assist during the incident on Wednesday night. Describing the incident Bryan Stracey, 43, a tanker driver who was parked in a yard behind the fire said: "It was the biggest fire I've ever seen. "The flames were...

Education Secretary Justine Greening was given a very hard time by Charlie Stayt on BBC Breakfast, usually one for the more easy going interview, he decided to go at Greening and wouldn't let it lie. She didn't look like she was prepared for his attack. Presenter Mr Stayt told her: "You've used the phrase 'ordinary working families' in pretty much every answer. "The fact is, most people watching this programme who are from ordinary working families... we can assume that's...

Figures released today by the mental health charity Mind show that one in ten people discharged from mental health hospital after being admitted in crisis are not getting follow-up within a week of leaving – which is at least 11,000 people every year. Mind sent Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to all 56 mental health trusts in England (54 trusts responded) asking for information about how quickly people are followed up after being discharged from hospital. Follow up – usually...

Brexit has gone that mad that two opposing activists, boxing in a ring, almost seems the sane option. How many people would like to step into the ring with Nigel Farage for example? Well this did actually happen, reports the Hackney Citizen, on April’s fools day, but only the UKIP MEP looked foolish in Bethnal Green’s York Hall. Lib Dem activist Toby White went up against UKIP MEP Jonathon Arnott in a bout of “chessboxing.” This sport sees alternate rounds...

The latest wage growth report paints a gloomy picture for the UK economy. Wage rises have now dropped below inflation, which is worrying for an economy that has been so reliant on consumer spending. In the public sector, a Government cap of one per cent on wage increases means the average full-time public sector worker has lost out to the tune of £9,000 since 2010. If the cap remains in place they will stand to lose £4,000 more by 2020 –...

Today the Daily Mail has issued a public apology to US First Lady Melania Trump and paid damages and costs understood to be in the range of £2 million for a story alleging she once worked as an escort. An apology and full retraction was published prominently by Mail Online and will also appear in the print edition - and so it should. The Mail must learn that it cannot print falsehoods about the First Lady or anyone else for that matter,...

The tricky problem of why shoelaces become undone has been solved by scientists. Walking along and then suddenly having that horrible feeling of footwear becoming loose has frustrated humans for thousands of years. It occurs without warning - and a study now reveals the series of events that make it happen. A double whammy of footfall and whipping forces acts like an 'invisible hand', loosening the knot and then tugging on the free ends of your laces until the whole...