Day: October 30, 2018

    Theresa May has dismissed claims that Monday’s Autumn Budget was an attempt to pave the way for an early general election. Speaking at a press conference in Olso, the Prime Minister said the government was not preparing for another general election, telling reporters: That would not be in the national interest. It comes after Chancellor Philip Hammond’s headline-winning budget sparked rumours that the Conservative Party was gearing up for the polls. As well as confirming the party’s promise to boost NHS spending by £20-billion-a-year, Hammond revealed tax cuts for 32 million workers and £1bn for Universal Credit over the next five years. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the Tories usually do this. If a general election is comi...

    A Tory MP has suggested extra cash pumped into the welfare system by Philip Hammond will still not be enough to keep families out of poverty. South Cambridgeshire MP Heidi Allen also questioned whether the chancellor's extra spend on the government's flagship Universal Credit programme would ease criticism of the benefits shake-up. In his budget on Monday, Mr Hammond announced an extra £1bn over five years to help the roll out of Universal Credit, along with a £1,000 increase in the amount people can earn before losing benefits at a cost of £1.7bn per year. The chancellor told MPs he recognised their genuine concerns about the system but stressed: Universal Credit is here to stay, and we are putting in the funding it needs to make it a success. However, speaking i...

    A BBC Sport editor has been forced to issue an apology after he was caught on tape mocking a victim of the Leicester City helicopter tragedy. Dan Roan was filmed making offensive comments about the marriage of Foxes boss Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. Microphones picked up the broadcaster as he made the remarks to a producer while standing alongside the King Power memorial. Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five people on board the aircraft when it crash landed soon after taking off from the King Power Stadium. Footage of the off-air conversation appeared online and sparked outrage amongst football fans on social media. Roan later issued a grovelling apology on Twitter. He wrote: Just want to say sorry for some comments made in a private, off-air conversation earlier with ...

    A British woman has been charged with murdering her husband on the Malaysian holiday island of Langkawi, with her lawyer saying that the suspect felt overwhelmed. Samantha Jones 51 appeared in court on the island accused of killing John William Jones, who was found with a stab wound to the chest in their house earlier this month. A court official read out the charge of murder which is punishable with a mandatory sentence of death by hanging in Malaysia, and Jones indicated that she understood it but did not enter a plea because the magistrates court has no jurisdiction to hear the matter which is being transferred to the High Court. She is accused of committing the murder in the early hours of October 18. Jones's lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said that the suspect felt v...