The YamYam 29 Dec 09: Tom Scotney B’ham Post 29 Dec 09 Thousands of pub landlords could go on strike in the New Year in an attempt to cut back on the amount of money they have to pay to large pub-owning companies. The GMB union said landlords working on ‘tied’ contracts with companies like Marston’s, [...]

Abuse of disabled parking spaces is becoming a very real issue across Willenhall reports Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires. “During the run-up to Christmas matters have really come to a head” said Ian. “The temptation to nip into a conveniently placed empty parking bay when all the others are full is very real, but they are [...]

The Conservatives have promised to give £1million of taxpayers’ money as a cash prize to the person or team who manages to “harness the wisdom of the crowd” by producing an online platform to solve “common problems”. The Tories claim that they want to harness ‘the collective wisdom of the British people’, but the idea [...]

If you’re feeling stressed because of job insecurity, redundancy, debt or financial problems, don’t wait for things to get really bad before you seek help. Call the NHS Stressline on 0300 123 2000 Daily between 8am and 10pm Discuss the issues that are affecting you and your family and get expert advice on how to help [...]

Government departments spent nearly £35m on first class rail travel for their officials last year, research by the Liberal Democrats has found. The figures, compiled from Parliamentary answers, show: The 11 departments that supplied figures spent £34,760,255 on first class rail travel in 2008/09. This is equivalent to £94,000 a day or £65 every minute [...]

Mobile phones, drugs and scissors are among some of the items smuggled into Strangeways prison, according to the Manchester Evening News. According to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act visitors to the prison had 21 phones and 15 sim cards seized by police between January and November this year.  In each case, the [...]

Shocking new information is beginning to emerge about the effects of alcohol and its impact on health and violence. However, the major concern is the dramatic rise in the number of young people drinking and it is also becoming clear that problem affects all walks of life. New information out today, suggest the number of [...]

Ministers have been accused of planning to seize control of £2billion in assets managed by hospital charities; they plan to change NHS accounting procedure, which critics say will make it easier to slash health budgets. And, in effect charitable donations to hospitals are to be “nationalised” under the procedure – they will be under the control [...]

Believe it or not information revealed to the Liberal Democrats shows that thieves have been responsible for thousands of trains being delayed over the past three years. Since 2006, passengers have been forced to endure one million minutes of delays caused by organised gangs stealing copper cabling from the rail network. In recent years the [...]

It’s been widely reported that the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham has outlined proposals to phase out hospital parking charges for inpatients and some outpatients which he says have caused “great resentment”.   He pledged a “fairer” system for relatives and friends of people admitted to hospital in England. But, cynics have claimed that it is a [...]