NHS rejects claims of "humanitarian crisis" in England"s hospitals

Image copyright Red Cross Image caption Emergency response volunteers for the Red Cross charity support hospitals in England The NHS has disputed claims from the Red Cross that there is a “humanitarian crisis” in its hospitals in England.
One of NHS England"s specialist directors said he thought the service was not “at that point” of crisis, but admitted demand was higher than ever.
Red Cross has been helping patients get home from hospital and called for more government money to help the situation.
Labour"s Jeremy Corbyn urged Theresa May to tell MPs how she would fix the “national scandal” of the NHS.
Mr Corbyn said: “The fact is this government have repeatedly failed to put the necessary resources into our health service, while they have cut social care and wasted billions on a top-down reorganization to accelerate privatisation.”
The Labour leader said he was “demanding” that Theresa May appear at the Commons on Monday and explain “how she plans to fix her failure on th..

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Allardyce: I snubbed big China offer to stay in England

The Crystal Palace boss opted to stay in his homeland instead of taking up an advance from the Far East, but believes he will be one of the few to do so
Sam Allardyce has revealed he rejected a big-money approach to manage in the Chinese Super League prior to taking over at Crystal Palace.
Clatten..

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National Parks in England "have lost millions in government funding"

Image caption Exmoor is one of England"s best-known National Parks National Parks in England have lost millions of pounds of government funding in the past five years, says the Press Association news agency.
Their funding was cut by a quarter from 2011 to 2016, according to an investigation by the agency.
The government is committed to raising parks" budgets between now and 2020.
However, funding in 2020 will be as much as a fifth below 2010 levels, said the study, even before inflation is taken into account.
Among the parks affected were the Peak District, with annual funding cut from £8.3m to £6.3m, and the Lake District from £6.9m to £5.2m.
The investigation found that once inflation was taken into account cuts over the five years were even more severe, at 40% in real terms.
In 2015, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) pledged to increase the direct grant for National Parks by 1.72% a year for most parks up to 2020.
National Park funding in En..

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Sigurdsson: Media pressure helped Iceland upset England

The scrutiny of Roy Hodgson"s side in the press during Euro 2016 played into the hands of the minnows, with the Swansea City star calling such attention counter-intuitive
Gylfi Sigurdsson believes media pressure played a huge role in England"s elimination from Euro 2016 at the hands of Ic..

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Allardyce "a better man" after England sacking

The new Crystal Palace manager says he has learned from his mistakes after he was fired from his role as England manager after just two months in charge
Sam Allardyce says he is ready to move on from the “dark moment” of being sacked from his job as England manager.
The European Team of the Season..

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Sam Allardyce vows to come back stronger with Palace after England blow

Sam Allardyce is confident he is “a better man” after his short-lived spell as England boss.
The 62-year-old is back in management with Crystal Palace and aiming to keep the lowly Eagles in the Premier League after being appointed two days before Christmas.
Allardyce stood down from his dream England role in September..

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Chelsea"s Pedro claims winning runs in England are more difficult than in Spain

Chelsea forward Pedro believes the Blues" winning run is more impressive than any he managed while at Barcelona.
A club-record 11 straight victories has seen Chelsea surge six points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Three more victories, starting with Bournemouth on Boxing Day, would see Antonio Conte"..

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First-time buyer aid cash: SW England gets biggest share

Image caption Cornwall is popular with people buying second homes South-west England has been awarded the largest share of a fund raised through extra stamp duty on second homes to help first-time buyers in England.
The area, which accounts for 21% of all second-home ownership in England, is to get £19.1m of the £60m annual fund.
The money will be distributed to “community-led” groups to encourage the building of affordable housing.
Labour"s John Healey said last year saw the lowest level of new affordable homes built since 1991.
The government says second-home ownership is at an all-time high and is crowding out first-time buyers by artificially raising prices.
"Big problem"It reports that there were 340,000 second homes in England in 2013/14 – a rise of 98,000 in five years.
In March the then chancellor, George Osborne, announced that £60m raised by an additional 3% on stamp duty on second homes would be spent on “community-led housing developments in coastal and ru..

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Abraham keeping options open as Nigeria and England prepare to battle for him

The Chelsea man, on loan at Bristol City, refuses to make big decisions over his future at international level as he draws attention for his impressive first senior season
EXCLUSIVE Tammy Abraham is aware that he is being coveted by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), despite him only making hi..

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"We want to stay"

Image caption Polish shops are a regular sight on Erdington High Street In the immediate aftermath of the momentous vote that signalled the end of Britain"s membership of the EU, the BBC visited Erdington, which has been described as a “Little Poland”. The voters of the Birmingham suburb emphatically rejected the status quo, causing Poles to react with shock and fear for what the future might hold. Six months on from that surprise victory for Brexit, how does the expat community feel now?
“They"re here purely for money. They"re not here for the social aspects of life. They don"t contribute to the community spirit.”
Gerard Goshawk, a minister of Erdington Six Ways Baptist Church for over 10 years, was watching TV at home when he heard this withering verdict given by a Leave voter from Erdington to the BBC"s Panorama programme.
He was incensed.
“It really made me angry,” he said. “To suggest that people from Poland and other communities do not add to the commun..

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£60m "to tackle second homes problem" in England

Image copyright PA The government is to introduce a £60m fund to help areas of England with high levels of second-home ownership to “tackle the problem”.
The money, to be shared by 150 councils, will go into providing “affordable” housing in places where demand is high.
Housing Minister Gavin Barwell said this would help those who struggle to get permanent accommodation.
One-third of the money will go to south-west England.
This area, according to the government, accounts for 21% of all second-home ownership in the country.
Councils will distribute their share of the money to community groups to invest in building and the development of housebuilding skills.
"Frustration"The government says second-home ownership is at an “all-time high” and is “crowding out” first-time buyers by artificially raising prices.
The Department for Communities and Local Government reports that there were 340,000 second homes in England in 2013/14, its most recent figures. This constitutes a rise ..

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VIDEO: Chelsea starlet Ben Elliott makes England debut

Karamoko Dembele has been making plenty of headlines for Celtic, but the Blues have a starlet of their own impressing for club and country
Karamoko Dembele has been dominating the headlines when it comes to teenage talent turning out at a level which logic dictates should be well beyond their tende..

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Conte: Holland had to answer England"s call

The Blues head coach arrived at Stamford Bridge from the Italy national team job so fully appreciates the lure of international football
Antonio Conte will be disappointed to lose his Chelsea assistant Steve Holland to England but understands the draw of coaching your country.
The Football Associa..

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Call to halve prison population to 45,000 in England and Wales

Image copyright PA The prison population of England and Wales should be cut to 45,000, a former deputy prime minister and two former home secretaries have urged.
In a letter to the Times, Nick Clegg, Ken Clarke and Jacqui Smith said jails had become unacceptably dangerous.
They said inmate numbers had risen to more than 85,000 since Michael Howard declared in 1993 that “prison works”.
The cross-party trio pointed out that almost half of inmates are re-convicted within a year of being released.
Former Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg, Conservative Mr Clarke and Labour"s Mrs Smith said the recent violent unrest at Birmingham Prison was a “wake-up call for this country”.
Riot teams restored order to all four wings of HMP Birmingham last week after more than 12 hours of rioting described as the worst since events at Strangeways 26 years ago.
"Order, security and purpose"The trio"s letter said there had been a 31% increase in prison assaults in the past year, and one prisoner ki..

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"Holland key to world-class England" - Southgate hails new assistant

The Three Lions boss has confirmed the addition of the Chelsea coach to his backroom staff, stating he could be what the nation needs to make the step up in quality
England have appointed Chelsea number two Steve Holland as assistant manager to Gareth Southgate, much to the latter"s delight.
..

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"Holland needed to make England world-class" - Southgate hails new assistant

The Three Lions boss has confirmed the addition of the Chelsea coach to his backroom staff, stating he could be what the nation needs to make the step up in quality
England have appointed Chelsea number two Steve Holland as assistant manager to Gareth Southgate, much to the latter"s delight.
..

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Steve Holland named as England assistant manager

Steve Holland has been confirmed as England"s assistant manager, juggling the role with his Chelsea commitments until leaving Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Holland will join the Football Association full-time at the end of the Premier League season, when he will relinquish his post as Chelsea"s assistant fi..

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Wenger: Guardiola has it easy in England

The Frenchman believes the criticism he received as an unknown back in the 1990s was far worse than the questioning the ex-Barcelona coach has received
Criticism of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been nothing compared to what Arsene Wenger experienced when he first arrived in England, th..

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says Claudio Bravo is happy in England

Pep Guardiola has dismissed claims goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is unhappy at Manchester City.
Some reports in the Spanish media in midweek suggested the 33-year-old had struggled to settle since his £15.4million move to the Etihad Stadium from Barcelona in August.
City manager Guardiola says he has not seen those reports ..

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Hospital beds shortage in England "an infection risk"

NHS hospitals in England are so full that a shortage of beds is putting patients at an increased risk of infection, according to a report.
An analysis of bed occupancy rates by the Nuffield Trust reveals that more than 95% of beds in hospitals were used every day last winter.
Hospitals try not to exceed 85% so that they can clean beds between patients and deal with sudden admissions rises.
NHS England said plans were in hand for maximising hospital beds this winter.
Previous research has linked a shortage of beds to long delays in emergency departments and higher infection rates.
Hospitals aim to avoid high bed occupancy rates to ensure that emergency patients can be admitted quickly.
They also don"t want patients to be moved around or placed on inappropriate wards to make room for other patients, and they need to have some slack in the system when numbers of admissions rise very quickly.
Controlling infections and keeping everything clean can also be a problem if hospitals ar..

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