Debenhams record Christmas sales.

Business correspondent,London(wp/es):
Debenhams has withstood the warm winter that plagued the High Street in recent weeks and revealed record Christmas sales.
It outshone the likes of Marks & Spencer and Next with a 1.9% rise in like-for-like sales in the 19 weeks to January 9 and 1.8% increase over its seven-week Christmas period.
The department store added that it instigated a planned reduction in stock levels of "weather-sensitive" clothing, which allowed it to avoid the deep discounts some other retailers resorted to.
Sales of full price goods were up 5%.
Online was also a bright spot, with sales up 12.1% and click & collect accounting for 31% of orders.

Chief executive Michael Sharp, who will step down this year, said: "This performance is evidence that our strategy is working with our customers finding our mix of products and brands both compelling and great value for money."
Debenhams shares rose 15.1%, or 10p, to 76.47p on the back of the performance.
Liberum, which upgraded the stock to "Hold" from "Sell", said it was a "solid" trading update albeit against soft comparisons of a year earlier.

2016 Tube strike:Unions and LU set for fresh talks to avert crippling walkout

staff reporter,London(wp/es):
Union bosses and London Underground are to enter fresh talks in a bid to avert the latest planned strikes over the Night Tube proposals.
Three 24-hour strikes are scheduled to take place over the next five weeks as the bitter dispute over the all-night Underground service rumbles on.
However, London Underground will sit down with leaders of the Aslef, RMT and Unite unions on Friday in the hope of reaching a deal and staving off the industrial action, under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas.
The latest series of strikes announced on Monday by Aslef and RMT are scheduled to take place for 24 hours from 9pm on Tuesday, January 26; Monday, February 15; and Wednesday, February 17.

Finn Brennan, Aslef's organiser on London Underground, said: "We'll be back at Acas on Friday aiming, and hoping, to do a deal. I only hope that TfL will turn up with the same attitude.
"A world class capital city like London deserves a 24-hour service but it needs to work for those of who provide that public service, as well as for the passengers who use it, and the management at TfL.
“London Underground needs to stop bullying and start negotiating."
An RMT spokesman said the union will attend the fresh talks in the hope of breaking the deadlock.
Boris Johnson on Monday criticised the unions’ latest plans for industrial action as “a disgrace”.
The long-running dispute centres on pay and proposed shift patterns for affected Underground workers.

Investment banking slowdown

business correspondent,London(wp/es):
A hiring slump at investment banks slowed UK recruitment activity at search firm Robert Walters in the final quarter, highlighting the ongoing shake-up of the banks as they try to reverse a slide in profits.
The recruiter, which makes a third of its fees in the UK, said a drop off in bank recruitment between the start of September and December 31 led to lower UK net fee income growth of 5% to £19.9 million from £19 million.
UK growth was 27% for the same period last year.
“We’ve been in this business for 30 years and every so often banks will hire and fire,” said chief executive Robert Walters, who founded the search firm.
“There’s always a mixed bag when you have a broad, diverse business and they are realigning what they want to be. That inevitably leads to redundancies and affects hiring trends.”

He added there was a “degree of pause” in hiring but expected it to get back to normal by 2017.
The bonfire of the bankers comes at a sensitive time for rainmakers ahead of this year’s bonus season, which coincides with annual results from lenders over the next few weeks.
Big European banks like Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Credit Suisse have laid off staff and stopped hiring in a bid to reshape their institutions in recent months to focus on more profitable areas.
Despite the problems, FTSE 250-listed Robert Walters reported a 10% rise in group net fee income for the period to £59.1 million on a constant currency basis.
Europe was the stand-out market – led by stronger productivity in France — with quarterly net fee income up 17% to £12.4 million. Asia Pacific was also up 11% to £24.3 million.

Walters said there were some brighter spots in financial services sector despite the bank problems.
“Insurance has been quite strong and we’ve seen decent trading in overall financial services over the past 12 months.
“We do normally have a quieter season in the fourth quarter and it has been exacerbated by what’s coming out of China,” he added.

Corbyn under pressure as shadow minister quits

political reporter,London(wp/es):
Jeremy Corbyn came under fresh attack today as a shadow cabinet minister quit over the “direction and internal conflict” of the Labour Party.
Catherine McKinnell said she was resigning as shadow attorney general with “a heavy heart” after losing faith in the “increasingly negative path” of the party.
The Newcastle North MP said she had been optimistic at first about the “new kind of politics” promised by Mr Corbyn and went on: “However, as events have unfolded over recent weeks, my concerns about the direction and internal conflict within the Labour Party have only grown and I fear this is taking us down an increasingly negative path.”
She is the fourth shadow minister to resign in the past week and to criticise direction under Mr Corbyn.
Two London MPs were tipped to replace her: Hammersmith’s Andy Slaughter and  former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer, MP for Holborn and St Pancras.

Mr Corbyn today gave his strongest signal yet that he could use a referendum of Labour members to push through a historic change of policy on the Trident nuclear deterrent.
In an interview that alarmed Labour modernisers, he said grassroots members would get a “big say” in whether to change the current policy that backs the renewal of Britain’s nuclear weapons system.
 “Whether that comes as a vote of individual members or a vote of conference, that will be decided,” he said.

Two members of the shadow cabinet - Lord Falconer and Owen Smith - yesterday hinted they would quit if he reversed the current policy, while a third, Lucy Powell, predicted the big trade unions would block such a move as it would cost jobs.
He refused to rule out launching drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists in Syria or Iraq.
Labour’s leader said he would look at the “evidence” before deciding on any request for a strike from security officials if he was Prime Minister.

BNP is no longer an official political party in UK

political reporter,London(wp/es):
The British National Party is no longer a registered political party in the UK after it failed to submit paperwork required by the Electoral Commission.
The Commission removed the controversial political party from its official list today, meaning that it will not be able to field candidates in any UK elections.
A spokeman said the BNP had been removed from the list as it had failed to confirm its registration details, which all political parties must submit annually for a £25 fee.
The statement of accounts from the BNP was due on July 7, 2015, with the party's annual confirmation of registered details due on or before January 7.
However, the BNP's name and logo will be protected for two years under electoral law, and the party will be able to submit an application to re-register.

A statement from the Electoral Commission said: "Now that the party has been removed from the register, BNP candidates cannot, at present, use the party’s name, descriptions or emblems on the ballot paper at elections.
"The party can, however, submit an application to re-register at any time and their name, descriptions and emblems are protected under PPERA for two years to prevent other parties using them.
"Any application will be considered by the Commission in line with its usual processes for assessing new applications to register political parties."
BNP spokesman Stephen Squire said it was a "clerical error on our part" and that the party would submit the right paperwork within the next few days.

"It's a little bit embarrassing," he said, but insisted it would be "business as usual" for the party, which intended to contest the London mayoral election and some council seats.
"We've been overwhelmed by the number of phone calls we've had from people concerned we might be disappearing."

drug dealer jailed for more than 10 years

crime reporter,London(wp/es):
A drug dealer has been jailed for more than ten years after heroin, cocaine and cash were discovered in a flat in east London.
In October Shipu Miah, 23, of Ford Road, Bow, pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court to possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine.
He also admitted a charge of possession of criminal property after more than £170,000 in cash was also seized.
He was arrested in June in last year when police raided a flat in Prince Meridian Walk, Poplar, which Miah used as a safe house to mix and store class A drugs.
Officers recovered 2kg of heroin, 1kg of cocaine, 54kg of cutting agent and £171,195 cash.

On Friday, he was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison.
DC Matthew Foy of the Met's Organised Crime Command said: "I am delighted with the sentence handed down in this case, it sends out a clear message to those that think supplying Class A drugs is a way to earn a living.
“The impact on the people of London is severe and this has been reflected in this sentence."

London Underground sex attacks take place during rush hour

crime reporter,London(wp/es):
Most sex attacks on the Underground happen to commuters in busy carriages during the rush hour, new figures have revealed.
Campaigners say the data demolishes myths about both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence.
Statistics from British Transport Police show between January 2014 and last December, 322 sexual assaults were reported on the Underground during the evening peak of 5pm to 7pm.
There were a further 291 reports to British Transport Police (BTP) from 8am to 10am over the same period.
By contrast, only 110 assaults were reported between 11pm and 1am.

Sarah Green from the End Violence Against Women Coalition told the Independent: “These figures tell a compelling story about how sexual harassment is mostly experienced during daytime commuter journeys – not during late-night social hours.”
And she said the figures “explode a myth that women who have been drinking or who are dressed a certain way provoke sexual harassment, because the victims at peak morning and early evening travel times are largely working women making commuter journeys.”
She added: “The figures may also similarly explode myths about perpetrators of sexual harassment, because at 8am they are sober men who purposefully look for chances to offend, not late-night opportunists.”
The figures also showed a spike in reports over the summer months
 and a recent rise in reports, with 94 allegations made last October alone.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said in August that he was open to the idea of women-only carriages on the Underground after 10pm.
British Transport Police said the increase could be in response to a number of campaigns, including Project Guardian which encourages women to report sexual harassment on the transport network.
A spokesman said: “Significant work has taken place to encourage reporting of sexual offences on trains and Tubes under the successful 'report it to stop it' campaign, which has increased people's confidence to report offences to police.”
He added crime on the Underground network was at a low of 6.8 offences per million journeys.
Victims of sexual assault on the Tube can send a text to the Report It toStop It number on 61016.