First hour: news review: Bristol Arena: In full: George Fergusons damning Bristol Arena letter - He doesnt mince his words - In my interpretation of the Local Government Code of Conduct, this sorry sequence of events disqualifies the Mayor from being involved with the arena decision, both legally and morally. However it is clear that Mayor Marvin Rees has made up his mind and that his apparatchiks are now doing all they can to lobby and justify a decision that may favour the few, but is certainly against the will of the many. - Robbie Gillett @RobbieGillett Adblock Bristol co-founder, cycling enthusiast, climate justice organiser in the anti-fracking movement - Public objections to new digital advertising plans in Bristol are showing the council that people donât want these intrusive, unwelcome screens in the cityâs public spaces. But campaigners say that despite the decisive show of public opinion and a lack of understanding about the harmful impacts of this technology, we may still see new digital advertising screens in our city soon. The council received almost sixty objections against plans for a huge digital advertising screen on Stapleton Road in Easton. A new digital screen proposed opposite Temple Meads station has also proved a very unpopular idea with the public, and has been rejected by the council as it would be a distraction and safety risk at this busy junction, and it would dominate the view and detract from nearby listed buildings. Bristol mayor Marvin Reesâ annual council address in full - Bristol audit failings: BDO has revealed there are ten areas which still need to be completed in the report and these include âclarifications in respect of the exit packageâ of former chief executive Anna Klonowski. Ms Klonowski left her £160,000 role last September after just seven months to look after her sick parents. She was allegedly given a payment of £70,000 in lieu of serving her notice. Bristol Mayor, Marvin Rees, has constantly denied any wrongdoing and says the council was acting as a âcaring employerâ by allowing her to leave early. However, the controversial payment has dogged his term with opposition parties questioning if the payment was legally necessary or value for money. BDO carried out an earlier report which found Mr Rees had ignored financial good practice guidelines over the payment to Ms Klonowski. While the auditors found the Bristol Mayor had not acted illegally, it said the payment and sum should have been presented to the HR committee - a recommendation made as a result of the Bundred Review. It comes after former City Director - the equivalent of the chief executive role - Nicola Yates was given an alleged £200,000 pay off at the start of Mr Reesâ term in 2016. BDO said it is currently looking in to a âlegal interpretation matterâ associated with Ms Klonowskiâs payment in lieu of notice agreement. The audit committee were also frustrated at delays with the completion of the heritage assets section of the audit. In the 2016/17 report the councilâs heritage assets were valued at £100million, but this jumped to £201million in the 2017/18 balance sheet. Somerset audit failings: STAFF at Somerset County Council have been asked to take two daysâ unpaid leave so the cash-strapped authority can save money The council is looking for new ways to generate savings after an official audit of its accounts warned it was in danger of ârunning out of money in two or three yearsâ if no action was taken. As part of the effort to tackle what an auditor called âpervasiveâ over-spending, the council has proposed that staff take two days of compulsory unpaid leave over the Christmas break in both 2018 and 2019. The council believes that this proposal â which will go out to a trade union ballot in September â could save £1m over a two-year period. The proposal was detailed in a monthly briefing note which was circulated to all council staff. It outlines âa temporary change to terms and conditions for this year and the next.â The briefing says: âThe proposal is that staff take two daysâ unpaid leave during the Christmas week (Thursday, December 27 and Friday, December 28), with a third day (Monday, December 24) taken as annual leave, flexitime or working from home. Council eyeing more multi-million-pound investments as it confirms shopping centre deal. North Somerset Council has confirmed it has taken control over a shopping centre in Weston â but it is also looking for potential multi-million-pound investments elsewhere in the district. Tories launch probe into Boris Johnson over burka comments - According to the Evening Standard, the ex-Cabinet Ministers comments will be looked at by an investigatory panel headed by a lawyer, with the mov. e set to be announced this afternoon. Mr Johnson has been under fire over a Telegraph article in which he said women who wear burqas looked like âpost boxesâ and âbank robbers.â - Israel running campaign against Jeremy Corbyn: An app operated as part of an Israeli government propaganda campaign issued a âmissionâ for social media users to make comments against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of anti-Semitism. This is the latest evidence of an Israeli campaign of psychological warfare against the UKâs main opposition party. The Act.IL app on Sunday falsely accused Corbyn of comparing Israel to Nazi Germany in a 2010 meeting which had been resurfaced by The Times last week. - Torrents of Online Tory Hate, Venom, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Racism, Islamophobia and more⦠Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has yet to apologise for or distance himself from the vile abuse dished out online by his supporters. See our recent post featuring Matt Thomasâ stirling work listing Tory Criminals. And now, here is some equally disturbing content, expertly gathered by Chelley Ryan â Chelleryn99 on Twitter. Itâs a relentless stream of venom, targeting prominent Labour politicians and some of their backers, much of it originating from supporters of aspiring Leader of Her Majestyâs Oppositon (one day), Jacob Rees-Mogg. On this evidence, the Rees-Mogg stable appears to be a very dirty backwater and a hotbed of unaddressed cultural backwardness. Some of this hatred is directed at immigrants and refugees, or anyone they seem to regard as worthy of their attention and in the firing line for their bile - One of the UKs biggest department stores collapsed â but was almost immediately rescued by a billionaire sports tycoon. The 169-year-old UK department store House of Fraser fell into administration on Friday after failing to secure a rescue deal. Sports Direct, the sports retailer run by billionaire Mike Ashley, bought the chain almost immediately for a reported £90 million. Accountants EY had been appointed to find a buyer for a House of Fraser, which employs 17,500 people across the UK. UK must adopt Norway-style trade deal or face a CALAMITOUS Brexit, Yanis Varoufakis warns: BRITAIN has been urged to secure an interim Norway-style trade deal with the European Union in a bid to ward off a hard Brexit. EU blinked first! European leaders plan Brexit COMPROMISE deal - but will UK accept? - EUROPEAN leaders are considering offering the UK a Brexit deal which would end free movement and give Britain access to the single market for goods, but it may not be acceptable to Brexiteers. - Will the City of London become like a wasteland? Mark Carney in EU interest to do a deal but no deal Brexit looming: Mark Carney: Chances of no-deal Brexit âuncomfortably highâ. The pound dropped in the wake of the BoE chiefâs comments. The possibility that Britain could leave the European Union without a deal in March 2019 is âuncomfortably high,â according to Bank of England chief Mark Carney, who stressed the financial system was âreadyâ to withstand the potential shock. âWe have put the banks through the wringer well in advance,â Carney told the BBCâs Today program on Friday, referring to stress tests that he said would ensure the banks âare there to lend to the economyâ and âadvance instead of retreat.â National Crime Agency (NCA) prosecute low-hanging fruit traveller smugglers but leave international Mafia alone. People-smuggling gang who plotted to transport Albanian migrants across English Channel using jetskis facing jail. Incompetent group charged £6,000 for route to Britain but lack of sailing experience led to repeated failures
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