Tower Hamlets mayoral election: Labour’s John Biggs beats Rabina Khan – but with fewer votes than last year’s election against Lutfur Rahman June 12, 2015 Labour's John Biggs has been elected mayor of Tower Hamlets – but with fewer votes than he received when he went up against Lutfur Rahman last year. Biggs secured 32,754 votes, including second preferences, to beat independent candidate Rabina Khan, who received 26, 384. Turnout was just 37.73 per cent. In 2014, he [...]
London weather: Met Office issues severe weather warning as thunder, lightning, hail expected on Friday June 12, 2015 The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for Friday, with the hottest day of the year expected to develop into an evening of thunder, lightning and even hailstones. London and the south east will get the brunt of the “severe thunderstorms”, which are expected to begin on Friday and continue into the [...]
Tower Hamlets “intimidation-free zone” praised by voters June 11, 2015 Voters have been praising police in Tower Hamlets for keeping polling stations from being overrun with intimidating canvassers. In the hotly contested mayoral election – called after previous incumbent Lutfur Rahman was found guilty of electoral fraud and deposed – there have been widespread concerns that voters would be intimidated or obstructed from casting [...]
Rolls-Royce union members set up fund to support striking workers June 11, 2015 Rolls-Royce workers have voted in favour of setting up an industrial action fund, to build a “war chest” in preparation for future strikes. Workers have agreed to pay an extra £1 a month to Unite the union to build the fund. The union, which represents around 12,000 Rolls-Royce workers in Derby, Bristol, Hucknall, [...]
Around 1,000 in-store Tesco managers accept redundancy rather than take a pay cut June 11, 2015 More than a fifth of Tesco's in-store management have taken voluntary redundancy rather than move onto a lower rate of pay, as part of a huge restructure of the supermarket. Around 1,000 people have left the grocer, which has effectively stripped out two layers of management – deputy manager and line support – from [...]
UK’s £56bn aerospace, defence, security and space sectors come out strongly against Brexit June 11, 2015 A whopping 86 per cent of the UK's £56bn-a-year aerospace, defence, security and space sectors want Britain to remain part of the European Union, a new study has found. Just two per cent of companies in the combined sectors' trade body ADS said Brexit would have a positive impact on their business. The [...]
Nestle faces rejection over KitKat copyright claim after European Court of Justice ruled against trademark appeal June 11, 2015 KitKat copycats could be on the prowl after the top lawyer at the European Court of Justice decided not to give Nestle a break over its attempts to trademark the plain four-fingered bar. The case dates back to 2010 when KitKat owner Nestle sought to register the shape of the four-bar treat without the [...]
Middle-class kids are selfish, and it’s bad for their health June 11, 2015 Richer children tend to be more selfish than their poorer counterparts – and this could be hurting their health. A new scientific study has found that children as young as four could reap health benefits from being more altruistic. But this behaviour is “less common among kids from high-income families”, the research, published in [...]
The Competition and Markets Authority issues “final order” demanding Ryanair sell its Aer Lingus holding to British Airways parent IAG June 11, 2015 The Competition and Markets Authority has issued a final order that Ryanair sell down its stake in Aer Lingus, reducing its holding from 29.8 per cent to five per cent – but Ryanair has hit back at what it calls a "ridiculous" ruling. It follows a decision by the Irish government last month to [...]
Standard & Poor’s lowers Greece’s credit rating to CCC, warns it could be downgraded further June 11, 2015 Well, this is a surprise. Standard & Poor's has lowered Greece's credit rating one notch to CCC and said it could be lowered again within the next year as the country's financial situation worsens. Although normally S&P would be restricted from altering its rating of Greece outside a “pre-established calendar”, the agency said [...]