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Struggling families are being "cut off from the internet" as the soaring cost of broadband outstrips wage rises, Labour has warned. Latest figures show that between 2015 and last year, broadband prices rose by more than 30% - while salaries went up by around 17%. One in 20 households are struggling to pay for the service, with Labour blaming the government for allowing Openreach - the main broadband infrastructure provider - to charge companies more for network rental. This meant providers like BT, Talk Talk, Vodafone and John Lewis increased charges by over 9% in just a year. Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said: “Families face being cut off from the internet as a result of the Conservative cost of living crisis. Higher broadband bills are piling pressure on household budgets, on top of rising food, energy and fuel prices. “Instead of fixing the cost-of-living crisis, the Conservatives are fighting with each other. Labour's Lucy Powell has warned that squeezed … [Read more...] about Families being ‘cut off from internet’ as broadband costs rise twice as fast as wages

Tory leaders have ditched plans to house asylum seekers at a closed RAF base in Yorkshire. In a plan unveiled by Priti Patel and Boris Johnson , the Home Office claimed in April that it would “shortly open a new, bespoke, asylum reception centre in Linton-on-Ouse”. Up to 1,500 men were due to be housed there under the scheme, which was detailed as part of the bid to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Boris Johnson claimed the centre would be “like those in Greece” and the first tranche of 60 men were meant to have been moved there by the end of May. But there was a fierce local backlash, with local Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake branding the plan in a village of 600 people “absolutely disgraceful”. Now the site has been “withdrawn” for Home Office use - and both candidates for Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss , have said it will not go ahead. However, the door appeared to remain open to opening an accommodation centre or centres on a different site in future. … [Read more...] about Tories ditch Priti Patel’s plan to house asylum seekers on RAF base in Yorkshire

“We have to start off in Italian because it’s Italian vodka.” Mike Piazza expressed his gratitude in Italian, unprompted, by dropping a “grazie a tutti” four different times during a Friday night event promoting True Vodka, his latest business endeavor. “The Italian part is something that we’re very proud of,” said Piazza, who not long ago purchased an Italian soccer team only to sink them into bankruptcy. True Vodka, according to their own marketing material, is for rich people. They’ve identified their target demographic as people aged 30-50 with household income ranging from $125,000 to $350K, living in “aspirational urban venues and neighborhoods.” As one of the faces of the Mets, a team that’s always represented the city’s working class, Piazza is conveying a message that seems far more aligned with the yuppie Yankees. But, lest you forget, True Vodka is extremely Italian. This is not something that Piazza, who is from Pennsylvania, takes lightly. When asked about how … [Read more...] about Mets legend Mike Piazza wants you to buy his vodka … because it’s Italian

A nine-year-old Dalit boy died on Saturday allegedly after he was beaten up by a teacher for touching a drinking water pot in a private school in Jalore district of Rajasthan, police said. Police have arrested the teacher, Chail Singh, 40, and charged him with murder and under sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Indra Meghwal, a student of the private school in Surana village, was beaten up on July 20 and succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Ahmedabad on Saturday. The state education department has initiated an inquiry into the matter and Rajasthan SC Commission chairman Khiladi Lal Bairwa ordered that it be taken up under the case officer’s scheme for fast investigation. Superintendent of Police of Jalore Harsh Vardhan Agarwalla said the boy was beaten up badly and added that the reason cited for it — touching a drinking water pot — was yet to be investigated. “We have filed a case against the teacher, Chail Singh, under … [Read more...] about Dalit Boy Beaten Up by Teacher for Touching Drinking Water Pot in Rajasthan School, Dies

In a first for the country, the Odisha government has decided to provide wedding kits’ to newly married couples from September to raise awareness about family planning, officials said. The kits will contain contraceptive pills, condoms, a booklet on methods and benefits of family planning, and the marriage registration certificate among other items, they said. This is a part of the National Health Mission’s (NHM) Nai Pahal Scheme’. The objective is to create awareness among newly married couples to adopt family planning, Director of Family Planning Bijay Panigrahy said. The initiative will begin from the district and block levels, he said. We will launch it for the first time in the country, said Shalini Pandit, State Mission Director of NHM. Panigrahy said accredited social health activists (ASHAs) will visit households where marriages are scheduled and distribute the kits. The couples will also be informed about healthy spacing between child births, he added. Read the … [Read more...] about Odisha Govt to Gift Newlyweds ‘Wedding Kits’ With Condoms, Family Planning Booklets to Raise Awareness

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday said the expenditure incurred by the government on education and health cannot be construed as freebies and stated such measures were being extended to the poor and those living in the fringes. He also took an apparent swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for opposing freebies but said he did not want to talk much about it as “it will become politics.” In fact, the Supreme Court has said freebies and welfare scheme were different, Stalin said in an event at the Arumigu Kapaleeswarar Arts and Science College at his Kolathur constituency here. “The expenditure on education and health cannot be freebies. Because education is about knowledge while medicine relates to health. This government wants to implement adequate welfare schemes in both these sectors,” he said. Listing out the initiatives in Health and Education, including those delivered on doorsteps, Stalin said “these are not freebies (but) social welfare schemes.” “These … [Read more...] about Spending on Health, Education Can’t Be Freebies: Stalin

Boris Johnson and his allies are plotting a return to Number 10 before the next election if Liz Truss “implodes” as Prime Minister, the Sunday Mirror has been told. A well-placed Westminster insider claims the lame-duck Tory leader is determined to make a comeback. He and his supporters are said to be “delusional” about his prospects of winning another General Election - after his popularity tanked in the polls. But the source said a disastrous first few months of a Liz Truss premiership would be seen as an opportunity for him to swoop in. And a second, Conservative Party source said: “I think that could well intensify if things go badly for Liz - you get people thinking 'Would he have been any worse?' "She's got strikes coming up, energy bills , inflation the whole lot." The PM is said to believe if Ms Truss doesn’t quickly “get a grip” on looming crises Tory MPs would welcome his return as a “winner” who can save the party from election oblivion. "It sounds … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson and allies plotting return to No10 before next election if next PM ‘implodes’