A college at the University of Cambridge has removed a bell from view over fears it came from a slave plantation, as one of Europe’s oldest seats of learning delves into its historic links with slavery.
Staff said they had “shuttered off” the bell in St Catharine’s College as they tried to find out more about its past.
“As part of the ongoing reflection taking place about the links between universities and slavery, we are aware that a bell currently located at the College most likely came from a slave plantation,” a college spokesman said.
“A more detailed investigation is under way into the bell’s provenance as part of a wider project researching the College’s historical links to the slave trade,” he added. The college said the bell was presented in 1960 but gave no more information.
Cambridge said last month it was beginning a two-year study of how it benefited from the Atlantic slave trade and whether its scholarship reinforced race-based thinking during Britain’s colonial era.
In the biggest deportation in known history, weapons and gunpowder from Europe were swapped for millions of African slaves who were then shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas. Ships returned to Europe with sugar, cotton and tobacco.
Around 17 million African men, women and children were torn from their homes and shackled into one of the world’s most brutal globalised trades between the 15th and 19th centuries. Many died in merciless conditions.
Dr Miranda Griffin, a senior tutor at St Catharine’s, said it was important that the university acknowledged historical links to slavery and the slave trade.
“As an academic community, we will continue to conduct rigorous research into all aspects of our past and to reflect on our commitment to diversity, inclusion and asking challenging questions,” Griffin said.
A man has been charged after five men were stabbed in a fight outside a Nottingham nightclub.
Police said they believe the fight started as people were leaving Pryzm on Lower Parliament Street at about 03:45 BST on Monday.
The man, 18, who was also injured, has been charged with possessing a bladed article and five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
A 19-year-old man is in hospital in a critical condition.
Another four men who were arrested in connection with the inquiry, two aged 24, one aged 19 and one aged 22, have been released on police bail.
Pryzm was open on Sunday for a bank holiday event with former BBC Radio 1 presenter DJ Spoony.
Det Insp Daniel Johnstone said: "There were a lot of people in the area at the time and I would appeal for anyone who was there and saw something that could be helpful to the inquiry to come forward.
"If you took mobile phone footage or were driving past and caught some footage on your dash-cam, please let us know. It could be vital evidence."
Talks between Britain’s government and the main opposition Labour Party to break the Brexit deadlock are on the verge of collapse, broadcaster ITV’s political editor said on Wednesday.
Those involved in the negotiations say they have no expectation that there will be a breakthrough and the talks could be pronounced dead later on Wednesday, Robert Peston reported.
The pound fell to a day’s low just above $1.30 on the news.
British annual house price growth picked up more than expected last month to hit its highest in over two years, mortgage lender Halifax said on Wednesday, contrasting with other signs of a muted housing market.
House prices in the three months to April stood 5.0 percent higher than a year ago, the strongest growth since February 2017 and a marked increase from the 2.6 percent rise recorded for the three months to March.
The reading came in above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to an annual increase of 4.5 percent in the three months to April.
“The surge in house prices reported by Halifax cannot be reconciled with any other evidence from the housing market. Less volatile measures paint a far more subdued picture,” said Samuel Tombs, economist at Pantheon Economics.
Halifax said the year-on-year gains reflected unusually weak prices in April 2018, as well as more sales of more expensive newly built homes and a bigger proportion of sales coming from London, where house prices are above average.
Bank of England data last week showed British lenders approved the fewest mortgages in March since December 2017, and that consumer borrowing slowed sharply in the run-up to the original Brexit deadline of March 29.
While house prices have been rising across the country as a whole, prices in London have fallen according to various indicators, hit by unaffordable prices for many buyers, tax changes affecting the buy-to-let market and Brexit uncertainty which has weighed heavily on the capital.
Halifax said house prices in April alone rose 1.1 percent, again stronger than all forecasts in the Reuters poll that had pointed to an increase of just 0.1 percent. However, this represented only a partial recovery from March’s 1.3 percent drop.
Greenfall tower tragedy-Follow up--(wp/bbc):::Grenfell Tower families have accused corporations of having "amnesia" during the public inquiry into the fire.
Bereaved families told a report private companies and public authorities had answered "I don't recall" a lot during the first phase of the inquiry.
One respondent to the report by charity Inquest said it was a "disrespectful" approach with a "lack of candour" to those who had been affected.
Seventy two people were killed in the tower block fire on 14 June 2017.
The council, the tower's tenant management organisation, the police and the fire service were all quizzed during the inquiry's first phase.
Companies involved in Grenfell's refurbishment also provided statements.
Fifty five families contributed to the charity's report.
One respondent said: "We all have lapses in memory. The bereaved and families from our side who went up to give evidence had an extraordinary level of recollection.
"In comparison the corporate entities had an amnesia fix. The chair should have been stronger to say, 'you have to try and recall'."
'Post-it notes'
Another said: "It feels like certain people are being let off the hook, not being asked important questions. Now the first phase is finished. We don't feel satisfied."
The families have criticised the informal way their lawyers could raise questions they wanted asked of witnesses with the inquiry counsel - by passing them post-it notes.
An interim report was due to be released by the inquiry in spring but the Grenfell community has been given no firm date yet.
The families said they wanted an independent panel to be put in place before hearings resume next year, a venue layout that kept families at the centre of proceedings and the government to help workers attend the inquiry without losing their annual leave.
Inquest also identified "outrage and exasperation" that interim safety recommendations suggested by lawyers representing the families had so far failed to be implemented.
These included abandoning the "stay-put" policy for buildings of more than 10 storeys, and ensuring each London borough had an aerial ladder.
In its most recent update, the inquiry said chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick was "considering the range of suggestions made by expert witnesses and legal representatives".
Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said: "It is a tragedy that must never happen again, whatever it takes and whatever the consequences for all authorities.
"We will not be defensive, we are a public authority, and we want the clear and unvarnished truth for the victims and the bereaved."
British Prime Minister Theresa May is now close to setting out a timetable for her departure from office, the political editor of The Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday.
“I understand Theresa May is now close to setting out a timetable for her departure from No10, with or without Brexit taking place,” Tom Newton Dunn said on Twitter.
“Friends of Graham Brady say he had “a very productive conversation” with her in No10 yesterday, and is now awaiting firm thoughts from her - which may, or may not, come in time for the 1922 Committee meeting at 5pm today.”
Pic-Keith Flint was found dead at his home in Essex
Staff reporter,essex(wp/bbc):::
The Prodigy singer Keith Flint had unspecified amounts of cocaine, alcohol and codeine in his system when he died, an inquest heard.
The musician was found dead at his home in North End, Essex, on 4 March.
Chelmsford Coroner's Court heard Flint, 49, died due to hanging.
Senior Coroner for Essex Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded an open conclusion into his death, adding there was not evidence to say he had taken his own life.
The inquest heard the musician was found by a friend.
Ms Beasley-Murray said: "We will never quite know what was going on his mind on that date.
"I've considered suicide. To record that, I would have to have found that, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Flint formed the idea and took a deliberate action knowing it would result in his death.
"Having regard to all the circumstances I don't find that there's enough evidence for that."
The coroner also said there was insufficient evidence to record the singer's death as an accident where he may have been "larking around and it all went horribly wrong".
She told the court Mr Flint's family and band manager did not wish to attend the inquest.
On Tuesday, The Prodigy's Twitter account posted a message about mental health and urged people to not "suffer in silence".
Ms Beasley-Murray asked for the court's sympathy to be passed to Mr Flint's family.
"He clearly was extremely popular, he was much-loved by so many fans," she said.
Thousands of music lovers lined the streets of Essex on 29 March for the funeral of the star, who had number one hits with Breathe and Firestarter.
The NHS is seeing the first sustained fall in GP numbers in the UK for 50 years, the BBC can reveal.
An analysis by the Nuffield Trust think tank for the BBC shows the number of GPs per 100,000 people has fallen from nearly 65 in 2014 to 60 last year.
The last time numbers fell like this was in the late 1960s and it comes at a time when the population is ageing and demands on GPs are rising.
Patient groups said it was causing real difficulties in making appointments.
There have been reports of waits of up to seven weeks for a routine appointment, while those needing urgent appointments have been forced to queue outside practices in the early morning to guarantee to be seen.
The pressures on GPs are being looked at by the BBC as part of a special day of coverage, including a Panorama investigation.
Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, president of the Royal College of GPs, said: "General practice cannot be allowed to fail. It is an absolute cornerstone of the NHS."
NHS bosses maintain that steps are being taken to improve access, with more GPs being trained and extra support staff recruited to work alongside them.
The Nuffield Trust analysis looked at the number of GPs working in the NHS - both full and part-time - per 100,000 people across the UK.
It shows that during the late 1960s the numbers were falling, before four decades of almost continuous growth.
A peak of 66.5 was reached in 2009, before the increases tailed off.
There have now been four consecutive years of falls with the biggest drops being seen in England.
The fall in GPs from 64.9 per 100,000 to 60 per 100,000 means the average doctor now has 125 more patients to look after than they did in 2014.
The Nuffield Trust believes another 3,500 GPs would be needed to get the NHS back to where it was in 2014.
There are just over 42,000 working currently, down by nearly 1,500 in four years.
Patients report it is getting more difficult to get an appointment.
The biggest survey of GP patients is carried out by Ipsos MORI for NHS England.
About 750,000 patients are surveyed each year.
While satisfaction ratings remain high, only two in three people needing an urgent appointment on the day are able to get one.
Kent is one of the areas with the worst problems.
The local patient network - Healthwatch Kent - has been investigating access to GPs.
Its chief executive Steve Illet said: "Patients have been reporting they are having to wait six or seven weeks for routine appointments. And even when they try to get an urgent one they can be forced to queue outside surgeries before they are open.
"It is a real problem. Some GP surgeries are really struggling to recruit the staff they need, particularly the smaller surgeries."
Where are all the GPs going?
For a number of years the NHS was struggling to attract junior doctors to become GPs.
At one point, as many as one in 10 training places was going unfilled.
That has now been rectified - and the number of training places increased.
Last year, nearly 3,500 GP trainee posts were taken up in England, up by 800 since 2014.
This boost in numbers has yet to be fully felt as it takes at least three years to train a junior doctor to become a GP.
What is more, one in three junior doctors who accept places on GP training courses, drops out of the system, according to the Nuffield Trust.
Meanwhile, the numbers retiring early have been increasing.
Two-thirds of retirements by GPs come early - double the rate seen just five years ago.
The BMA said doctors were being asked to work longer and harder, without recognition or an increase in pay.
Dr Richard Vautrey, of the BMA, said workloads were now "unmanageable" for many.
It's not safe - GP
Dr Carmel Boyham Irvine has worked at the North Road West Medical Centre in Plymouth for 26 years.
She has seen demand increase as the population ages with patients needing help and care for ever more complex conditions.
She now deals with 50 to 60 patients a day - either on the phone or in person.
She told BBC's Panorama programme the situation was simply "not safe".
She is one of two GP partners - senior doctors who are responsible for the practice.
They have been trying to recruit another partner for five years but have had no success.
During that time the size of the practice's patient list has increased by 1,300 to 8,300.
"The sustainability of this particular practice is questionable," she added.
All parts of the UK said steps were being taken to address pressures on general practice.
As well as increasing training places, steps are also being taken to increase the number of health staff to work alongside GPs.
Dr Nikita Kanani, of NHS England, suggested this would help ease demand on GPs.
But she acknowledged the service was facing "significant pressure".
Similar plans are being introduced in Scotland and Wales with a Welsh government spokesman saying the aim is to "transform" the way services are organised.
The Labour Party - which has previously floated the idea of a basic income - said it would study the report ahead of drawing up its next manifesto.
A universal basic income is already being trialled in other countries.
The report, entitled Basic Income as Common Dividends: Piloting a Transformative Policy, was written by Professor Standing, an authority on the concept of the basic income.
He was asked to write it by the Progressive Economy Forum, a left-leaning group of economists.
Advocates of a basic income say it reduces poverty and inequality by providing a guaranteed income.
But Conservative deputy chairman Helen Whately said it would be "a kick in the teeth to hardworking taxpayers".
"It would mean benefit payments for everyone, from Premier League footballers to investment bankers and even prisoners, costing billions, while hammering ordinary workers in the pocket by scrapping the tax-free income allowance."
What is a basic income?
Universal basic income, or UBI, means that everyone gets a set monthly income, regardless of means.
The author of this latest report, Professor Guy Standing, told the BBC: "A basic income would be paid in cash, a moderate amount, a basic amount unconditionally to each individual man and woman equally, a smaller amount for a child and the good thing is it would be unconditional and it wouldn't be means tested and it would be a right, an economic right."
How much would it be?
Professor Standing said the amount would change over time as the funding for a basic income is built up.
However, initially he said the weekly sum would be £48, which he said would be a "significant amount for many people".
"Now £48 is not a lot for most people but for a lot of people out there they have £20 left at the end of the week after they've paid their rent and their food, so this is a significant amount for many people."
A lower sum would be paid to children, under these proposals.
How would it be paid for?
A rough calculation shows that if about 60 million people were paid £48 a week, that would come to about £150bn a year.
Professor Standing said there are 1,156 tax reliefs in the UK at the moment and if they were scrapped that would pay for a basic income.
"What that means [is] it's income foregone by the Treasury. Most of these tax reliefs didn't have any economic rationale and they're giveaways that are increasing inequality.
"If we phased out those tax reliefs the total revenue foregone by the Treasury from tax reliefs is £420bn per year and that's their own estimates, not mine," he added.
Has it been done elsewhere?
Some countries have tested paying a basic income to citizens.
In western Kenya, the government is paying every adult in one village $22 a month for 12 years to see if a regular payment can help lift them out of poverty.
The Netherlands and Italy have also launched trials, while Scotland is considering piloting basic income schemes in four cities, including Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell recently said that Labour would include a plan for universal basic income in its next general election manifesto.
However, a two-year trial in Finland, where a sample of 2,000 unemployed adults were given €560 a month, was not extended.
And in Canada, Ontario's newly elected centre-right government said it was scrapping a three-year basic income pilot project that hoped to discover whether it was better than existing welfare schemes.
This is not the first time this has been suggested in the UK is it?
No, there have been a couple of similar studies this year alone.
In March the New Economics Foundation think tank published a report in which it proposed replacing the personal tax allowance with a Weekly National Allowance of £48. However, it did not call it a basic income.
A week later the leftwing think tank Compass, suggested a universal basic income of £60 for each adult, £175 for those over 65 and £40 for children under the age of 18.
What are the pros?
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who is attending the launch of the independent study on Tuesday, welcomed the report.
He said: "This report is an important contribution to the debate around inequality, austerity, poverty and how we establish a fair and just economic system.
"There have been pilots of 'basic income' elsewhere and Guy Standing has looked at them and come forward with proposals.
"Whatever mechanism we use, whether 'basic income' or another, we have to lead in developing a radical mechanism aimed at eradicating poverty, but also means testing.
"We will be studying the contents and recommendations of this report carefully as we put together our reform policies for the next Labour government."
What are the cons?
Opponents of a basic income are worried about how it would be paid for and what cuts would have to be made elsewhere.
And the government has previously said a universal basic income would not work for those who need more support, such as disabled people and those with caring responsibilities.
