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  • British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits Leeds

    British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits Leeds

    Prime minister confronted by Yeadon GP during today’s visit to city

    A Yeadon GP gave Prime Minister Gordon Brown a fiery Leeds welcome today as Labour’s election campaign came to the city.

    Gordon brown

    Doctor Andrew Wright from Yeadon Health Centre this morning expressed his scepticism about Labour’s proposal to devolve more cancer diagnostic services from hospitals to health centres.

    My Guardian colleague Paul Lewis – who you can follow on Twitter @paul_lewis – is on Brown’s election bus and was at the event to file a report.

    Click on the link to find out more about the confrontation with Brown.

    You can also follow the latest on national politics and the election by following @GdnPolitics.

    Over at The Times, Brown denied any admission of failure over a ‘failure’ to regulate banks while speaking on this morning’s campaign visit to Leeds.

    Over at the YEP, they report how Brown today paid a surprise visit to an 82-year-old Labour supporter in her Yeadon home. On a scheduled visit to Yeadon Health Centre, Alice Thompson’s doctor had told the Prime Minister she had wanted to meet him there but was not able to leave her home, a short distance away.

    BBC Leeds has also updated its site with the story of Brown visiting Alica Thompson.

    Posted by John Baron Wednesday 14 April 2010 13.36 BST

    The Guardian

  • Leeds football coach has been suspended after head butting a referee

    Leeds football coach has been suspended after head butting a referee

    A junior football coach has been suspended after being accused of head butting a referee at an under 12s match in Leeds.And police and the Football Association both launched inquiries into the incident.
    Jonathan Rimmington, 44, says he is fighting to clear his name after what he describes as a stand-off with the match official.
    The dad-of-two was quizzed by police over the allegations but has been cleared by them of any wrong-doing.
    However the FA has banned him from taking charge of his Rothwell Juniors under 12s team since the incident on February 14.
    Mr Rimmington has now appointed a solicitor ahead of an FA disciplinary hearing in a bid to get the ban overturned and clear his name.
    He denies the attack, instead claiming he was left injured in the clash.
    Mr Rimmington, from Birstall, told the YEP: “The whole affair is an absolutely disgraceful advertisement for junior football in this city.
    “I have been cleared by the police but it still feels like a case of me being guilty until proved innocent because of this FA ban.”
    Trouble flared after Mr Rimmington was ordered to leave the pitch after he went on to help one of his injured players.
    The game, played at Springbank Primary School, Farsley, between Farsley Celtic and Rothwell was abandoned six minutes into the match because of the injury.
    The later incident is alleged to have happened when Mr Rimmington approached the referee on the road next to pitch as he went to his car.
    Mr Rimmington added that problems started earlier: “The grass was six inches long on the pitch and there were holes all over the place.
    “I felt it wasn’t safe and told the referee but he just told me to go away and I think we got off on the wrong footing from the start.
    “We are in charge of growing lads and have to look after them properly, they are always my main concern.
    “This has really upset them. They are getting a lot of stick because of what has happened.”
    A West Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed the matter had been investigated and a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service but no further action was taken. John Riorden, governance manger for the West Riding County FA, said: “A disciplinary hearing was set up but Mr Rimmington was not available to attend. Another hearing will be arranged at a more convenient time so the matter can be dealt with.
    The YEP reported two years ago how Mr Rimmington’s team, then an under 10s said, were dubbed the ‘mini Arsenal’ because of their success in the Garforth and District junior football league.
    They were unbeaten and won the league with eight games to spare.
    More than half the team trained with the Leeds United academy and scouts from professional clubs were regularly spotted watching from the touchlines at their home games.
    Professional clubs including Manchester City, Oldham and Sheffield United have already expressed an interest in the several of the talented crop of youngsters.

    Yorkshire Evening Post

  • Bus Driver Arrested After ‘You’ve Planted a Bomb’ Jibe to Muslim Passenger

    Bus Driver Arrested After ‘You’ve Planted a Bomb’ Jibe to Muslim Passenger

    POLICE have arrested a bus driver who allegedly called a woman passenger a Muslim terrorist and asked her if she had put a bomb on his bus.

    An investigation was launched by First Buses in Leeds after Turkish-born Hatice McGraffin, 29, claimed a driver made the inflammatory remarks as she boarded her bus on her way to work on Thursday.

    The 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of racially/religiously aggravated harassment and remained in police custody at the time of printing.

    Mrs McGraffin, 29, from Otley, who is married to Englishman Ian, said the driver told her: “You are an Islamic terrorist – you have put a bomb on the bus’. I asked people on the bus ‘are you listening to this’ but they ignored me.

    “I am not even a practicing Muslim and I am married to an Englishman.

    “There are lots of Muslim people living in this country, does he think they are all terrorists?”

    It’s happening up and down the country every day. Innocent Muslims or people who look vaguely ‘Muslim’ are targeted and abused. Is this another example of the emerging ‘acceptable face’ of prejudice? Are Muslims the new ‘chavs’ and ‘gippos’, or the new 1930s German Jews?

    We applaud this young woman for standing up for herself and the police for taking immediate action.

    It was another lone woman on a bus who changed the course of history for the better. Rosa Parks is now regarded as the “Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement”. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks, age 42, refused to obey a bus driver’s order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Her one small act of bravery helped change the course of history. She later said: “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free,” and, “I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.”

    We hope Mrs McGraffin’s actions will encourage others to come forward and stand up for themselves.

    MPACUK

  • ‘Super theatre’ of UK will open in LEEDS

    ‘Super theatre’ of UK will open in LEEDS

    Best In the The country

    Th1

    LEEDS Arena will be open by 2012 – as planned. The arena is Leeds’ priority development and boasts a ‘super theatre’ layout giving audiences the best viewing experience inthe country.

    The 12,500-seat arena is also expected to generate £25.5million per year for the local economy and will bring 450 jobs to the city.

    With the Leeds Arena hosting some 110 world class entertainment events per year, it will be a huge boost to the city’s national and international profile. The scheme has overwhelming support, amid government delays with the provision of Yorkshire Forward funding for the project. An online survey and public consultation found 90 per cent of people supported it. In October, world class operators SMG Europe signed a lease agreement – providing Leeds City Council with a guaranteed 25-year rental payment – on the two-tier venue, where the furthest seat will be just 68 metres from centre stage. This compares to 95 metres away in typical arenas.

    “I am excited by the innovative design and believe the new arena will really put Leeds back on the international entertainment stage,” said John Sutherland, managing director of SMG Europe.
    Work is set to start on the site of Claypit Lane before the end of 2010. The venue is expected to be open in late
    2012.
    The £55million construction will protect more than 100 jobs in the local construction industry, create an extra 100 posts for local residents and provide potentially 90 apprenticeships.
    Rob Wolfe of Construction Leeds said:  “This approach in securing a building contractor for the arena will provide a real boost to the construction sector in Leeds and give confidence to local residents about future job and training opportunities.”
    For more information, visit www.leeds.gov.uk and search for ‘Leeds Arena’.
    Source: www.leeds.gov.uk
  • Fights at anti-fascist protest at Leeds

    Fights at anti-fascist protest at Leeds

    Hundreds of anti-fascism protesters have gathered in a city centre to demonstrate against a planned protest by a far right-wing group.

    A18

    Minor scuffles broke out between police and protesters as around 400 Unite Against Fascism activists descended on Leeds.

    Officers were trying to shepherd them towards a square outside the city’s art gallery to ensure they were kept apart from rival English Defence League demonstrators who are due to meet later this afternoon a short distance away.

    A large number of police officers, including a mounted section, were deployed in the city centre to keep the rival groups apart.

    A police helicopter circled above while activists from Unite Against Fascism shouted slogans.

    Demonstrators carried placards and banners and shouted “Fascist scum off our streets”.

    The scuffles broke out as police officers linked arms and moved the protesters towards the gallery.

    One protester was grabbed by officers and dragged towards a nearby police van.

    Several streets in the city were closed as the demonstrations took place.

    Press Association