Day: August 9, 2016

    Labour has said it will appeal after five new party members won a High Court battle over their legal right to vote in the forthcoming leadership election. The members accused the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) of unlawfully "freezing" them and many others out of the contest between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith, even though they had "paid their dues". The NEC decided that full members would not be able to vote if they had not had at least six months' continuous membership up to 12 July - the "freeze date". But Mr Justice Hickinbottom ruled that refusing the five the vote "would be unlawful as in breach of contract". The court action affects almost 130,000 Labour supporters who were affected by the freeze. A spokesman for the party said: "The Procedures Committee ...

    A taxi driver has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 27 years for the murder of Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah. Tanveer Ahmed, 32, travelled from Yorkshire to confront Mr Shah about clips the shopkeeper had posted online which he said "disrespected the Prophet Muhammad". Watching a clip featuring Mr Shah on his phone as he made his way to Glasgow, Ahmed was heard in a message saying: "Listen to this guy. Something needs to be done. It needs nipped in the bud." He pulled out a knife and stabbed the 40-year-old at his store in Glasgow's Shawlands area on 24 March. Ahmed, from Bradford, had pleaded guilty to the murder last month. From Glasgow, Sky News' James Matthews said: "Inside court, a section of the public gallery was filled by supporters of Tanveer Ahmed. "As...

    Three people have suffered serious injuries after an explosion destroyed a terraced house. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service was called to the property in Curzon Road, Ashton under-Lyne, at around 5am on Tuesday and arrived to find the front and back of the building had collapsed. Incident commander at the scene Alan Ashworth said the number of casualties had risen to "at least 10". He told reporters: "We are concerned for three of these casualties; some of them do have quite severe lacerations and burns." Mr Ashworth said a man, woman and their adult daughter lived at the property - which has been left in ruins following the early-morning blast. "We don't have full details of the casualties, but we now know three people were inside the property at the time of the...