News 15/05/26

Labour’s National Executive Committee has voted to allow Andy Burnham to be considered as a candidate for the Makerfield by-election.

This decision confirms the Mayor of Greater Manchester can contest the seat following intense speculation regarding a potential challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership. A party spokesperson stated the ruling body has given permission for him to enter the selection process. Mr Burnham confirmed his intention to stand yesterday, expressing a desire to bring the changes seen in Greater Manchester to the whole country and make politics work properly for people.

A teenager obsessed with Nazi ideology who launched an axe attack on a stranger has been jailed for more than fifteen years.

Alina Burns, who was eighteen at the time, targeted Mohammed Mahmoodi in Bedminster, Bristol, last August while he was chatting with a friend. Bristol Crown Court heard that Burns was motivated by neo-Nazi extremism and had been in contact with far-right groups. CCTV footage from inside a nearby barber’s shop showed the victim ducking at the last second as she swung the weapon at his neck.

Two pupils from different schools in Reading are being treated for meningitis following the death of a student from a nearby town.

The pupils attend Reading Blue Coat School and Highdown Secondary School and Sixth Form Centre, according to the UK Health Security Agency. It has also been confirmed that the student who died attended Henley College, which is about nine miles away in Oxfordshire. Close contacts of those affected have been offered antibiotics as a precaution.

Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting has supported Andy Burnham’s bid to contest the Makerfield by-election.

Writing on X, Mr Streeting said the party needs its best players on the pitch and stated there was no doubt Mr Burnham is one of them. He added that while the by-election will be tough, having the best chance of winning should override factional advantage.

A nineteen-year-old e-bike rider has been sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for killing an eighty-six-year-old great-grandmother.

Billy Stokoe pleaded guilty to causing the death of Gloria Stephenson by dangerous driving. The court heard he was over the cannabis limit and was riding an illegal, defective motorbike on a zebra crossing in Sunderland. He had been holding his mobile phone despite the only working brake being on the left side.

British Gas has agreed to pay twenty million pounds into a redress fund to settle an investigation by the regulator into the forced fitting of prepayment meters.

It emerged three years ago that debt agents working for the firm had broken into the homes of vulnerable customers to install the devices. The regulator, Ofgem, stated that British Gas will also write off up to seventy million pounds of debt for vulnerable customers, some of which may be used as compensation. The energy company has apologised for the scandal. Ofgem has since banned the practice of fitting meters without permission in high-risk households.

Hundreds of performers have been left unpaid by the Leicester Comedy Festival, one of the largest comedy events in the United Kingdom.

This year, the festival attracted approximately one hundred thousand spectators and over five hundred individual acts, including high-profile names such as Sir Stephen Fry and Sara Pascoe. Organisers stated they aimed to pay all performers as soon as possible following the event, which took place in February. However, they admitted that cashflow problems have caused significant delays. Comedian Ben Alborough expressed frustration, noting he is owed nearly two thousand pounds and has bills to pay.