Author: SKYNEWS

Growth in the UK’s powerhouse services sector has cooled by more than expected to its weakest level in six months, according to a closely-watched survey of businesses.As campaigning got under way for a general election that is widely expected to be dominated by the economy, the S&P Global UK Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) suggested an overall slowing in the pace of business activity. The index, in which any reading above 50 represents growth, came in at 52.8 for May – down on the 54.1 score achieved the previous month.Money latest: Fashion brand to charge £8.99 for returnsThe survey of…

Compared with Hollywood, Grimsby is perhaps more fish factory than dream factory – but just like La La Land, the Lincolnshire port town is aiming for the stars with ambitious plans to become a go-to location for filmmakers.”Build it and hopefully they will come,” is the belief of Emma Lingard, a resident who once worked in TV but is now a manager at Associated British Ports (ABP), the owners of Grimsby Docks. “Every producer or location manager that has come to us is saying that London is overpriced,” she says. “They’re finding there are too many other productions jostling for…

In the 15-year scandal of the Post Office, this may be remembered as the day that hundreds of sub-postmasters, subject to the greatest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, were finally heard.In Westminster, the Post Office Offences Act was being rushed through parliament, included in the ‘wash-up’ triggered by the general election. Come early evening, when it formally received Royal Assent, as if by legislative magic, around 700 wrongful convictions were erased. Before that, a mile or so east at Aldwych House, Paula Vennells finally faced the sub-postmasters’ questions, on her third and final day of evidence at the…

It’s not just your lifelong politicans who enter the fray when it comes to election time.With the next general election now confirmed for July, there are already some faces in the mix you might recognise from other walks of life. They wouldn’t be the first from the worlds of entertainment and sport to venture into politics – the late Oscar-winner Glenda Jackson won a seat for Labour in the 1992 election, as did TV personality Gyles Brandreth for the Conservatives.And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was known as a comedian and actor before assuming his current role in 2019.Here are some…

After avoiding public scrutiny for nearly a decade, Paula Vennells, the former Post Office boss, finally faced questions about her role in the most widespread miscarriage of justice that Britain has ever seen.She has been giving evidence at the Post Office Horizon Inquiry for the last three days – and today she was accused by lawyers of talking “rubbish” and being in “la la land”. Sky’s Jonathan Samuels spoke to Sky’s business correspondent Paul Kelso who’s been at the Post Office Inquiry for us.Plus, a record number of Conservative MPs have now said they are not standing in July’s general…

Cassie has broken her silence after video emerged of her ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking her in a hotel hallway.The model and singer, 37, said she would “always be recovering from my past” and urged her followers on Instagram to “open your heart to believing victims the first time”. It comes after footage obtained by CNN earlier this week showed her being punched and kicked in a hotel hallway in Los Angeles by rapper and record executive Combs.The CCTV footage from 5 March 2016 shows Combs wearing only a white towel as he beats his then girlfriend and protege. Image:…

Punters hoping to enjoy a swift pint may have been left with a bit of a headache – after an investigation found nearly 90% of beer served in UK pubs and bars is short-measured.Trading Standards officers ordered beer and wine at 77 pubs and bars and were served 96 short measures out of 137 orders. This means more than two-third of drinks (around 70%) were less than the prescribed quantity required by the Weights and Measures Order for pints and half pints and 175ml glasses of wine.Some 86% of the beer ordered was short-measured, as was 43% of the wine.Of…

Google’s new search feature that uses AI to answer some users’ questions is facing criticism over its inaccurate responses, including telling users to eat rocks and mix pizza cheese with glue.AI Overview rolled out across the US last week and became available to some users in the UK last month. It is designed to make searching for information simpler but since the rollout, examples of erratic behaviour by the feature have flooded social media.In one example, the artificial intelligence (AI) appeared to tell users to mix glue with cheese to make it stick to pizza. It even gave specifics: “You…

Kelly Rowland says she was treated differently to other women on the Cannes red carpet, and an apparent dispute with a female security guard came about after she “stood her ground”.A viral video shows the former Destiny’s Child star entering into what looked like a heated debate with a member of security staff while walking up the stairs to the theatre at the premiere of the film Marcello Mio. Image: Rowland on the red carpet ahead of the altercation. Pic: Reuters Rowland went on to speak about the incident at the amfAR gala in Cannes, which saw Hollywood A-listers Demi…

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has admitted to amending the legal document Royal Mail issued to would-be investors before it became publicly owned to remove mention of the flawed Horizon IT system. Data from the accounting software created by Fujitsu was used to prosecute more than 700 sub-postmasters for theft and false accounting. Many more victims lost their homes, livelihoods and good reputation to repay non-existent shortfalls.’Last minute changes’ to Royal Mail prospectus removing Horizon referenceNow the inquiry set up to establish a clear account of the introduction and failure of Horizon has heard during Ms Vennells’s third and…