News

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Richard Branson's business empire is about to grow again as his Virgin Care organisation is about to take over Sheppey and Sittingbourne community hospitals as part of a £126 million deal. The Virgin group will oversee the running of four new hospitals - Sittingbourne Memorial, Sheppey Community Hospital, Livingstone Hospital in Dartford and Gravesham Hospital in Gravesend.The community hospitals, community nursing, intermediate care, community neuro rehabilitation, speech and language therapy, podiatry and continence services will...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It was Corbyn’s comeback from long-term injury, the awkward left-winger had an open goal over the junior doctors’ strike, he flicked the ball into the air, with an intricate overhead kick he scored, and ran into the cheering crowd. Corbyn said, “Would you agree that the only people in the UK who you couldn’t crush for striking is the predominately middle class, highly educated and crucially able to save your life, junior doctors, and the...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Iain Duncan Smith was yesterday (11th Jan) accused of being a "murderer" outside of a South East London Job Centre. Protestors had gathered outside the building in Peckham as the Minister arrived. The angry crowd screamed "murderer" at him. The attack came on the back of the news that one in ten "fit for work" assessments for disability and sickness benefits had been carried out inadequately. Later Smith used a copy of the Daily Mail...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Conservative MPs have voted against a proposed rule that would have ensured landlords made their properties fit to live in. Labour MP Teresa Pearce had asked for new amendments to the Housing Bill which would ensure properties were safe and kept at a decent standard. Teresa Pearce called for the new rules to be added to the housing bill forcing private sector landlords to make their properties safe.  The Housing Bill is being pushed through...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The boss of the Environment Agency Sir Philip Dilley, has resigned. He faced a great deal of criticism during the flood crisis, which wasn't helped by the fact he was holidaying in Barbados as people in the UK lost everything as the water levels rose. Dilley claimed he had found the media scrutiny "unacceptable". He will leave his £100,000-a-year, three-day-a-week at the end of the month. There have been claims that the Environment Agency misled...

The US powerball jackpot has reached a record high of $1.4 billion after 18 rollovers dating back to early November. Two winners shared a record £66 million National Lottery jackpot on Saturday in the UK after 14 consecutive rollovers found no winner. Despite the prize being shared, if each ticket is held by an individual they would still be the (joint) biggest National Lottery winners in history with a whopping £33 million in prize money. In the US, a similar run of rollovers...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A total of 2,641 NHS staff were made redundant and then rehired by the NHS in the three years since April 2012. In total the NHS forked out £92million in redundancy pay to staff who were back working for the NHS not long afterwards, creating a revolving door policy and costing taxpayers' millions of pounds. Cameron’s health reforms appear to have contributed to this shocking statistic, it has been claimed by a senior opposition MP....

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor More unsettling times for the Labour Party, as Catherine McKinnell the Shadow Attorney General has resigned from the frontbench citing concerns about the direction and internal conflict within the party. She has only been in the post since September 2015 and has not had enough time to settle into the role. The MP for Newcastle North, who has three young children, sent a letter to Corbyn explaining she was having problems balancing her personal commitments, but...

The number of crimes linked to dating apps Tinder and Grindr has increased seven fold in two years, according to new statistics. Police in England and Wales received more than 400 reports of crimes where Grindr and Tinder was mentioned in the year up to October 2015. That compares to 204 in 2014 and 55 in 2013. Crimes relating to the apps include rape, child sex grooming and attempted murder. Police say users are vulnerable to “sextortion” and urged better awareness on...