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    Susan Hall: Tory London Mayor candidate hits out at false promises as she makes £200m police funding pledge

    Tory London Mayor candidate Susan Hall has hit out at those in power making “false promises” as she announced a £200m police funding pledge.Ms Hall appeared on LBC radio on Monday (22 January) and told presenter Nick Ferrari it was “wrong to make promises on the radio without knowing how to fund them”, before vowing to deliver more police officers.Ms Hall said: “I won’t make promises on the radio unless I know they are funded.“You get so many different people on the radio promising everything. You should not promise anything unless you know where the money is coming from.” More

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    Susan Hall: Tory London Mayor candidate admits not knowing bus fare prices

    Tory London Mayor candidate Susan Hall has admitted she does not know the price of bus fares in London.Ms Hall appeared on LBC radio on Monday (22 January) and was quizzed by presenter Nick Ferrari.Mr Ferrari asked Ms Hall: “What is the bus fare? How much do you pay to get on a bus currently?”“I don’t use them, I use trains all the time,” Ms Hall responds.A seemingly shocked Mr Ferrari asks: “You don’t know what a bus fare is?”“No,” she replies. More

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    Rishi Sunak has ‘no interest’ in ending train strikes, The Independent’s Simon Calder says

    Rishi Sunak has “no interest” in ending the long-running UK train strikes, Simon Calder has suggested.The Independent’s Travel Correspondent also described Mr Sunak as the “most anti-rail prime minister we have ever seen” during an appearance on BBC Politics London on Sunday 21 January.“He’s got no interest in settling the incredibly long-running – we are now in the third calendar year of strikes by Aslef train drivers – and it’s now increasingly seen as an election wedge issue,” Mr Calder said.“The government doesn’t really care.” More

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    Keir Starmer will ‘undoubtedly’ be next prime minister, Humza Yousaf says

    Keir Starmer will “undoubtedly” be the next prime minister, Scotland’s first minister has suggested.Humza Yousaf told Laura Kuenssberg that he is “very willing” to work with an incoming Labour government.“I think he absolutely will be [the next prime minister],” Mr Yousaf said, in an interview that aired on Sunday morning (21 January).“I’ve written to Keir Starmer, I’ve invited him to Edinburgh for a discussion. I’d like to speak to Keir Starmer as the man who will undoubtedly be the next prime minister of the United Kingdom.” More

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    Grant Shapps responds to two Royal Navy ships crashing in Bahrain

    Grant Shapps suggested “accidents sometimes happen” as he responded to two Royal Navy ships colliding in Bahrain.Video widely shared on social media appeared to show HMS Chiddingfold reverse into HMS Bangor in the Middle Eastern port.The defence secretary was asked “how on earth” the incident happened during an interview with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday 21 January.“I immediately spoke to the first sea lord in charge of the navy and he has confirmed that an investigation is under way,” Mr Shapps said.“We look forward to finding out what the causes were.” More

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    Moment David Lammy dashes off stage as speech interrupted by pro-Palestine activists

    David Lammy’s speech calling for a ceasefire in Gaza was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.The incident happened in London on Saturday 20 January.Labour’s shadow foreign secretary was addressing the Fabian Society conference on foreign policy when flag-waving demonstrators mounted the stage shouting: “When will you condemn the genocide? How many more children need to die?”After they were escorted away by security, more people in the audience stood up to launch verbal attacks on the party’s stance on the Middle East conflict.Once Mr Lammy returned after being temporarily rushed backstage, he joked: “I was born in Tottenham, don’t worry.” More

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    Sunak laughs off mother pleading with him to fix NHS waiting lists for her daughter

    Rishi Sunak laughed as a disgruntled voter in Winchester pleaded with him to fix lengthy NHS waiting lists for treatment.The woman told the prime minister “you could make it all go back to how it used to be” before the prime minister appeared to chuckle nervously in an exchange caught on camera by Sky News.”If we had a problem, you could go to the hospital. My daughter spent seven hours waiting,” she added.Figures suggest that some 6.39 million patients across England were waiting for routine hospital treatment in November, down slightly from 6.44 million in October. More

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    BBC Question Time audience member grills Emily Thornberry over Rwanda row in heated exchange

    Emily Thornberry was grilled during a heated debate on Rwanda on Thursday night’s BBC Question Time (18 January).The Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales was challenged to spell out Labour’s alternative when it came to stopping migrant boats crossing over the English Channel.A frustrated audience member aimed his comments directly at Ms Thornberry and said: “I have to say, I’m not too sure but Emily’s very quick to criticise the plan.“But then what’s your plan? You know, there has to be a plan. We’re a small island. We haven’t got room for everyone.”Ms Thornberry hit back by branding Mr Sunak’s plan a “gimmick” and saying Labour would target human-trafficking gangs. More