United Kingdom

    Gavin Williamson Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has confessed to having an affair with a former colleague that nearly destroyed his marriage apart. Williamson, who was made defence secretary after Sir Michael Fallon resigned, said his wife has forgiven him for the fling. The rising Tory start admitted he had a brief office romance with a former colleague, who was married, while a manager at fireplace firm Elgin & Hall in Yorkshire. I had a good relationship with everyone I worked with, but with one person this started to develop into something more," he said. "We had to travel together and spent a lot of time in each other's company, the relationship became flirtatious and a couple of times we shared a kiss. He called the office romance a dreadful mistake a...

    A woman who was caught on camera repeatedly hitting an elderly woman who suffers from dementia has been let off with a police caution. Stacey George, 46, was also filmed telling 78-year-old Sabina Marsden, God you stink, and snatching a blanket from her knee. Her daughter Gina Owen watched the abuse in real time as it was live-streamed to her mobile phone. Ms Owen, 46, who works in a nearby electrical shop, is seen on the video entering the room to comfort her mother while ordering George to leave. The family took the video to the police but George was handed just a caution after she admitted assaulting Ms Marsden on 13 June last year. Yesterday, Ms Marsden’s family released the video of the attack to warn other families about George in case she is continuing to ...

    Theresa May has said women should not be treated as objects in the wake of sexual harassment allegations at the men-only dinner held by the Presidents Club. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday morning, the prime minister said she was appalled at the report published in the Financial Times. However asked if she wanted to change any rules to tackle the problem, May said it was about changing attitudes. David Meller, one of the organisers of the event, quit his job on the the Department for Education board following the FT report. Conservative education minister Nadhim Zahawi has faced calls to resign after it was revealed he attended the fundraiser at the Dorchester Hotel. During the event hostesses were made to parade in front of men and were...

    A music promoter has been left fuming after just 37 minutes in a hotel car park left him with fines totalling £320. Hywel Gregory, 25, parked outside the Mercure hotel in Bristol twice in one day, unaware that a fee was payable for his two stays which were just 18 and 19 minutes in length. The car park is not operated by the hotel, but a third party company, Smart Parking. It sent Gregory the unexpected fines, and despite appeals has only raised the fines. Gregory used the hotel's parking in November 2017. He picked up a music artist from Bristol airport, drove to the hotel, and parked there for 18 minutes while he helped them check in. He then repeated the process with another musician later in the day, parking for 19 minutes. I didn't even know I had to pay for ...

    Theresa May struggles to speak for more than ten seconds before being interrupted in official phone calls with Donald Trump, according to dramatic new claims. The leaders’ conversations are so one-sided that Mrs May has five or ten seconds to speak before he interrupts and launches into another monologue, Bloomberg reported. Citing anonymous insiders and former government officials, the report claimed the so-called ‘special relationship has soured over the last year. Mrs May and Mr Trump will meet at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. However, the US president is expected to use the event to invite French leader Emmanuel Macron on a state visit in a further snub for the Prime Minister. In January 2017, Mrs May took the unprecedented step ...

    David Cameron has called Brexit a mistake, not a disaster in unguarded comments caught on camera at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The former prime minister said leaving the EU had not been as catastrophic as predicted. Speaking to the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Cameron said the process of leaving the EU was still going to be difficult. In footage from Channel 5 News, Mittal told Cameron he had heard everyone is talking about Brexit. Yes, well I know, Cameron replied. It’s frustrating. As I keep saying it’s a mistake, not a disaster. It’s turned out less badly than we first thought. Cameron’s comments are likely to provoke some enjoyment from Brexit-backing former colleagues. As prime minister, he described a leave vote in the referendum as the gamble of the...

    An ambulance service received an inappropriate call from a woman concerned over how to store a cracked egg. The East Midlands Ambulance Service have since released a video asking people to resist making irresponsible calls. A dead fox and someone who asked ambulance staff to make them breakfast were among other reasons behind inappropriate 999 calls that were made in the last six months. Simon Tomlinson, General Manager for the EAMS Emergency Operations Centres, reminded people to only dial 999 in the event of a serious emergency. He said: When you call 999 because someone is unconscious, not breathing, having chest pains or has the symptoms of a stroke, you are making the right call. Our emergency call handlers are trained to deliver life-saving instructions ove...

    Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has said it will return all previous donations from the Presidents Club after allegations of sexual harassment at a fundraiser. The charity intervened after claims female staff at a male-only dinner held last week at the Dorchester Hotel were groped, sexually harassed and propositioned. A spokesperson for GOSH said: We are shocked to hear of the behaviour reported at the Presidents Club Charitable Trust fundraising dinner. We would never knowingly accept donations raised in this way. We have had no involvement in the organisation of this event, nor attended and we were never due to receive any money from it. All monies raised in our name go to support vital work. However, due to the wholly unacceptable nature of the event we ar...

    Henry Bolton says he is struggling financially partly because the Ukip party he leads does not cover his expenses. The beleaguered leader lives in a flat in a hotel in Folkestone but does not get a salary from the party and he admits that his resources are running low. His reputation has been hit hard by his relationship with the 25-year-old model Jo Marney, who was roundly criticised for her racist tweets about Meghan Markle, prince Harry's fiancee. In the wake of that move, the party's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) refused to pay him a modest monthly stipend to cover his expenses as leader. There are bills to be paid and all my savings have just about gone. There is absolutely nothing convenient in any of this for me. I am not doing it for the money,...

    Angry Tory MPs attacked the Scottish government tonight for telling its officials to fly the Union Flag just once a year. The historic emblem was replaced by the blue-and-white Scottish Saltire for several Royal birthdays, including the Queen's, in new guidance issued by Holyrood. The guidance recommends the Union flag flies over government buildings only on Remembrance Sunday, down from 15 occasions a year. Tory ex-minister Iain Duncan Smith claimed the guidance was outrageous and tawdry while backbencher Jacob Rees Mogg complained it smacks of small-mindedness. Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser accused First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of trying to eradicate the Union Flag and appealing to extreme elements of the nationalist movement. Under 2017 guidance, on Royal bir...