Local News

Pontins discriminated against Travellers by drawing up a list of "undesirable" Irish surnames, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has found.The holiday camp operator committed "flagrant breaches of the Equality Act" according to the EHRC, which investigated after a whistleblower revealed the practice in 2020. Pontins, owned by Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd, was also found to have instructed call centre staff to listen for Irish accents and then decline […]

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to suspend any Labour member who was present at a meeting of activists where antisemitic comments were allegedly made.Mike Katz, the national chair of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), which is formally affiliated to the Labour Party, criticised those who were present at a community meeting that has recently come under the spotlight but failed to "call out" comments about Israel. At the meeting, […]

The High Court has dismissed a University of Bristol appeal over a ruling that it contributed to the death of a disabled student who took her own life.Physics student Natasha Abrahart, who suffered severe social anxiety, died in April 2018 on the day she was due to give an oral presentation to students in a 329-seat lecture theatre.In May 2022, Ms Abrahart's parents successfully sued the university, with Bristol County […]

A third Labour politician attended a meeting of activists at the centre of an antisemitism row within the party, Sky News understands. Hyndburn councillor Munsif Dad, who leads the local authority's Labour group, is thought to have been at the gathering where two parliamentary candidates are alleged to have made antisemitic remarks. On Monday, Labour withdrew support from and suspended Azhar Ali, who is standing under their banner at the […]

Labour has told its activists they face "disciplinary action" if they continue to campaign for the party's abandoned Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali.The party's branch in the North West has emailed activists in the region to warn they must no longer canvass for Mr Ali now that Labour has withdrawn its support for his candidacy over alleged antisemitic remarks he made last year. The party's rulebook states that support for any […]

Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister has said the UK government cannot expect Stormont to raise extra revenue while families are under huge financial pressure.The Treasury is asking the new power-sharing executive to generate £113m in additional funding, as part of the £3.3bn package for restoring devolution. But Emma Little-Pengelly, the first unionist to serve as deputy first minister, insists "this is not the time" and that stabilising politics must take […]

Sir Keir Starmer has claimed he took "decisive action" in withdrawing support from Labour's candidate for the Rochdale by-election.Azhar Ali was suspended by the party on Monday after it emerged he had allegedly made antisemitic remarks at a party meeting. Shadow ministers initially stood by the councillor after his comments were published by the Mail on Sunday - saying Israel had deliberately allowed the Hamas atrocity to take place in […]

The collapse of Yodel, one of Britain's biggest parcel delivery groups, has been averted after an overnight rescue deal led by the founder of Shift, a rival operator.Sky News has learnt that a newly formed company called YDLGP, which is backed by Shift executives and Solano Partners, a merchant bank, struck a deal early on Tuesday morning to buy Yodel. The deal was struck on a solvent basis and without […]

More than four in 10 students, aged 16 to 18, are concerned about having children in the future, according to new research.Some of the reasons they gave in an online poll, involving 20 schools in England, were fears about pregnancy and childbirth, self-doubt, financial burdens, health and wellbeing, hindrance to personal aspirations and non-inclusive LGBTQ+ education. Many of those questioned also did not think they were being taught enough about […]