Daily press cuttings 03/03/2017
The Guardian
Labour party has lost nearly 26,000 members since mid-2016, report claims
Labour has lost nearly 26,000 members since last summer, according to leaked data. The apparent shedding of card-carrying supporters has led one former chairman of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) to warn the “tide is turning”. More than three-quarters of those to leave the party last year had joined after the 2015 general election, a period that saw membership grow rapidly under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Up to 7,000 members are said to have resigned last month following Corbyn’s three-line whip on MPs commanding them to support the triggering of Article 50. The leaked data showed total Labour membership at 528,180, down from a peak of 554,000 in July, but still far above the 200,000 members it reportedly had in May 2015.
BBC crew attacked in China and forced to sign confession
A BBC camera crew reporting in China was attacked and later forced by police to apologise and sign a confession for trying to conduct an “illegal interview”, one of its reporters has said.John Sudworth, a journalist with the BBC, and his team were attempting to interview a villager in rural China who claims her father was killed during a land dispute with the government. As they walked towards her house, a group of men blocked their way, pushed Sudworth and smashed and snatched the crew’s cameras.
Indipendent.co.uk
MPs investing in cigarette companies, oil giants and 'tax avoiders' through their pension scheme
Pensions paid to British MPs are funded by the profits of cigarette companies, international oil giants and companies who MPs themselves have accused of avoiding tax, The Independent can reveal. The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF), whose investments have never been made public before, ploughed more money into British American Tobacco (BAT) and oil giant BP and than any other two companies over the past year. Millions of pounds were also put into oil company Shell and controversial mining firm Rio Tinto, the list of investments shows.
bbc.co.uk
Zero hours contracts reach record levels
The number of people on controversial zero hours contracts has reached a record high of 910,000.New figures based on an analysis of Office for National Statistics data reveal that 105,000 more people were on contracts that do not guarantee work in 2016 compared with the same period in 2015. That's an increase of nearly 14%, and 30% higher than 2014. In 2005, there were just 100,000 people on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).
The Times
Air pollution creates drug?resistant bugs
Tiny particles found in air pollution can significantly worsen infections and make them harder to treat with antibiotics, scientists have discovered.Grains of black carbon were found to help pneumonia and other respiratory diseases to spread into the lungs and grow into thick clumps that ward off antibiotics.The fumes from diesel engines are the biggest source of black carbon in cities. It has already been implicated in thousands of deaths a year through stress to the cells in the human body and damage to the immune system. Now, however, it appears that it can turn the bacteria into superbugs that exacerbate a number of life-threatening illnesses.
Taxpayers must fund Brussels private army
British taxpayers will help to fund a “private army” to protect MEPs as part of a record €2 billion (￡1.7 billion) spending spree by the European parliament next year.Estimates seen by The Times showed the parliament’s budget rising to €1,971,883,373, an above-inflation increase of 3.3 per cent, as MEPs rush to beat cuts that are expected after Brexit. Despite voting to leave the European Union last year, British taxpayers will contribute more than €268 million (￡230 million) to the bill, more than twice the annual cost of running the House of Lords.