Headlines in the West: 'Non-binary fish' and 'shop closure'
Here's our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media.
Our pick of local website stories
A tour of Bristol Aquarium's non-binary fish, which it promoted as showcasing "the vibrant diversity" of marine life in June, which is Pride month, is spotlighted in the Spectator, albeit being criticised for comparing humans to fish.Somerset Live is reminding people they have 10 weeks left to have their say on how the electoral map could be withdrawn for the 2027 local elections.Another shop in a seaside town has closed, according to Burnham-on-Sea.com. Thyers Fishing Tackle shut its doors at the end of May after 26 years in Burnham.A school in Cheltenham that offers dog grooming and animal care among its subjects has retained its "outstanding" Ofsted status, Gloucestershire Live reports. Pupils at Belmont School "love learning a breadth of subjects," inspectors said.
Our top three from yesterday
What to watch on social media
First West has launched its electrified bus depot in Hengrove in Bristol, saying more buses are on the way.Swindon Borough Council warns it has been hit by a scam. A fraudster posing as a member of its licencing team has been asking residents for money to renew applications.Dinosaurs will be taking over Gloucester's Kings Square and the Cathedral Quarter this weekend. Dubbed the Dino-ROAR weekend, it has been organised by the Gloucester Business Improvement District.
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BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
Trans former judge says Supreme Court gender ruling risks lives
The UK's only judge to ever publicly say they are transgender has told the BBC she is concerned the Supreme Court's ruling on biological sex puts lives at risk and fears "someone's going to get killed" because of Victoria McCloud is planning to take the government to the European Court of Human Rights over the April ruling, which said a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities led to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issuing new interim guidance to services and businesses on access to public facilities, such as toilets and changing Forstater, of campaign group Sex Matters, said Dr McCloud's comments were "alarmism". Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on Newscast, the BBC's daily news podcast, Dr McCloud said: "This incident is putting lives at risk. I can't go out to the pub now, for example. It might not be the be all and end all of life but I am a lawyer."I've got to use the men's loos in a south London pub with a bunch of blokes who are drunk. I mean, come on. That's now government policy. Someone's going to get killed."Dr McCloud said she agreed with an argument put forward by "the gender critical ideological movement" that it is "risky" or "at least rather intimidating" to have a space designated for women, such as a changing room, that is occupied by men."But that applies to me too," she to the full Newscast interview on BBC Sounds"That danger is all the more if it is not going to be me and a bunch of women and one man, instead it's me - one woman - in an entirely male space in a drunk pub."That's absolutely clearly dangerous."Ms Forstater said: "Women have already been assaulted and many, many are self-excluding because of the policy Dr McCloud endorses of allowing men to self-identify into women's toilets, showers and changing rooms."Where's the concern for the female half of the population who need privacy, safety and dignity?"If McCloud isn't comfortable using male-only spaces, then there are usually gender-neutral options available. This is irresponsible alarmism."In the wake of the unanimous Supreme Court judgement, Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson, speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme in April, stopped short of explicitly saying trans women should use the men's toilets. She said: "The ruling was clear that provisions and services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex."Pushed further for clarification on whether a trans woman should use the men's or women's toilets, she repeated: "The ruling is clear."The EHRC has already suggested trans people should use their "powers of advocacy" to campaign for so-called third spaces that are gender-neutral to avoid these sorts of Minister Sir Keir Starmer said in April the ruling gave "much-needed clarity" for those drawing up guidance."We need to move and make sure that we now ensure that all guidance is in the right place according to that judgement."A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear."Dr McCloud moved to Ireland after leaving her job as a judge last year and says she visits the UK only on essential said she is going to challenge the Supreme Court judgement at the ECHR, arguing the court did not hear from trans people before its ruling, and therefore breached her human Supreme Court did consider arguments on trans issues from the human rights campaign group Amnesty International, but not from exclusively trans activists.
The Sun
35 minutes ago
- The Sun
Major fashion brand with over 200 stores to close city centre branch in just HOURS
A CITY centre branch of a major fashion outlet is set to close its doors in a matter of hours. The branch of Cos at St Ann's Square in Manchester will close as of June 8. No statement has been issued by the retailer regarding its closure. However, a sign on the shop reads: "This store is closing on June 8. "For more information, ask a member of our team or visit Cos, which is part of the H&M group, had sat among other brands like OMEGA, Christopher James, and Mappin & Webb on St Ann's Square. The branch's staff are expected to be moved to other stores, the Manchester Evening News has reported. Another H&M brand Monki also saw a store close in Manchester's Arndale recently. Cos had taken its spot on St Ann's Square where GAP had previously been in 2018. The brand, which launched in 2007, currently boasts more than 200 stores. It comes as other high street retailers struggle across the country. The owners of River Island are understood to be drawing up a radical rescue plan, according to Sky News. Final sales begin as popular clothing brand closes all stores leaving 'devastated' shoppers scrambling for alternative The chain is being forced to restructure as a result of tough trading conditions. The firm's latest accounts at Companies House warned of growing financial and operational risks. "The market for retailing of fashion clothing is fast changing with customer preferences for more diverse, convenient and speedier shopping journeys and with increasing competition especially in the digital space," it said. Why are retailers closing stores? RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis. High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going. However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker. Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations. Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes. Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020." 2
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Jewish football writer's son: I'll not let Gary Lineker anywhere near Dad's memorial after antisemitic rat emoji post
Gary Lineker will be barred from paying tribute at a memorial service for a friend, football writer Brian Glanville, because of his attacks on Israel. Celebrated reporter Glanville, who died aged 93, was Jewish and his son Mark said: 'I am not having Lineker anywhere near Dad's memorial.' Mark's sister Jo had suggested asking Lineker to speak at a service at St Bride's Church in Fleet Street as the family knew he had been friends with Glanville since his early days at Leicester. But Lineker, 64, has been forced to leave his Match Of The Day role early after sharing an anti-Zionism post that had an illustration of a rat, which is how the Nazis characterised Jews. Mark said: 'I can't have somebody coming to speak at my Dad's memorial service who, though not anti-Semitic, is someone who is giving ammunition to people who are anti-Semites. 'Once you share a picture of a rat which is associated with Nazis, you really are crossing a line.' He added that Glanville, who died last month after suffering from Parkinson's Disease, would not have wanted Lineker to speak, despite his admiration for him as a player and Match Of The Day host. He said the horrors of the Holocaust deeply affected Glanville, who was born in 1931 and suffered anti-Semitic abuse at fee-paying Charterhouse School. Mark said: 'Dad was passionate about Israel. He was a schoolboy during the Second World War but he was aware of what happened. 'He saw Israel, after all the utter horror, like so many Jews, as a country that was Jewish and where Jews could thrive as Jews and be safe. 'I do not think Lineker is an anti-Semite. But he does single out almost exclusively Israel, as so many people do, with the type of criticism that gives no context of what happened on October 7 and what has triggered it all. 'As he is such a major public figure, he is lending a lot of fuel to people who have a very different agenda and who really don't just hate Israel, but also detest Jews. 'I believe Lineker really cares about issues but I wish he would talk about what is going on in Syria, in Sudan and with women in Afghanistan.' Glanville was an award-winning football correspondent for The Sunday Times for 30 years and wrote several novels. Mark said: 'We felt that for a man of such stature, Dad deserved a proper memorial service and my sister suggested inviting Gary Lineker to speak, saying that he had really loved Dad's work. 'But I said that while this was undoubtedly the case, loads of other people were admirers of Dad's work as well. I then said there was no way Lineker was coming anywhere near it. 'She was very understanding as I explained that in my view Lineker was an exceptionally talented footballer and that is where it should have stayed.' In 2007, recalling his most memorable footballing moments, Glanville cited the 1992 Euros tournament when England manager Graham Taylor 'inexplicably' substituted Lineker in a crucial match with Sweden. 'And England lost,' added Glanville in his trademark disdain, lamenting Taylor's foolish decision and supporting Lineker, playing his last match for England.
