EXCLUSIVE: STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer hit out at reports suggesting Ministers could delay the reform.

Scotland’s top trade unionist has demanded the Labour Government push ahead with a promise for a full minimum wage for young people. STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said claims UK Ministers are backtracking on equalising pay are “deeply disappointing”.

The UK has a tiered minimum wage system, with 18 to 20 year olds receiving at least £10 an hour and older workers on at least £12.21. Labour made a manifesto pledge to “remove the discriminatory age bands” but it was reported this week there could be a delay.

Fears exist that hitting bosses with extra costs could put off firms from hiring and undermine the fight against youth unemployment. Foyer, who represents hundreds of thousands of workers, said:

“It’s deeply disappointing that UK Government ministers seem to believe trapping young people on derisory, discriminatory wages tied to their age will tackle the disturbing rise in youth unemployment. A living wage with strong employment protections is a direct route to economic growth.

“Despite the business lobby and rogue politicians claiming the contrary, boosting wages and delivering higher quality jobs for young people actually increases productivity, broadens the tax base and promotes growth, not inhibits it. If the UK Government want to make real the change they promised during the election then only deeds and not words will suffice.”

OPINION

Paul Hutcheon

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“They must get on with delivering the boost to young people’s pay-packets, whilst transitioning the economy away from low-paid service sectors to high-wage employment, or they risk letting down an entire generation of workers.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves dodged the question when asked whether the Government would stick to its plans to equalise the minimum wage.

Speaking at a supermarket in south London, the Chancellor was twice asked whether she would delay the wage increase for 18 to 20-year-olds.

She said: “We already have incentives to hire young people with the apprenticeship rate of the minimum wage, but also for no national insurance contributions for the youngest workers.

“But we do recognise there are challenges and that is why we’re extending the number of further education college places, extending the number of apprenticeship places to help young people get the skills and the experience that they need to move into work.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared more enthusiastic about the policy when asked about reports of a delay:

“We’ve made commitments to young people in our manifesto, and we will keep to those commitments, including the commitment that we would make sure that the living wage would go up this April, which I can absolutely confirm to you will happen.”

Although the PM said the minimum wage would go up in April, it is unclear when the promise to equalise pay will be fulfilled.

A decision could be made when the Government sets its annual remit to the Low Pay Commission, which advises the Government on the minimum wage rates.

The Commission considers labour market and pay data, as well as views from businesses, trades unions and workers, before making its recommendations.

The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds surged to 16.1% in the three months to December – the highest level since early 2015.

Andrea Piardi is the referee for the Six Nations clash between England and Ireland.

Piardi became the first Italian to take charge of a fixture in the men’s Six Nations when he oversaw his first game in 2024.

The 32-year-old has been a familiar face on the touchlines as an assistant over the last few years, travelling to the World Cup in France in the autumn of 2023 as the sole Italian representative in the officiating group.

Born in Brescia, Piardi made his debut in what is now the United Rugby Championship in 2019, and he stepped up to international level that March, looking after Germany vs Spain in Cologne.

His quick rise continued with an appointment to the URC final between the Stormers and Munster in 2023, with Piardi now hoping to build further success with the whistle as he becomes a regular in the world’s top competitions.

A mechanical engineering graduate from his hometown university, Piardi became a professional referee relatively recently but is highly regarded. He took charge of the second British and Irish Lions Test against Australia at the MCG last July.

Match officials for England vs Ireland at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)

Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (Fra) & Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)

Television Match Official: Matteo Liperini (Ita)

Foul Play Review Officer: Mike Adamson (Sco)

Sixty-three male and four female players from Pakistan have signed up for The Hundred auction.

In messages seen by the BBC, a senior official from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) indicated to an agent that interest in his Pakistan players would be limited to sides not linked to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Four of the eight franchises – Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Southern Brave and Sunrisers Leeds – are now at least part-owned by companies that control IPL teams.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said on Friday that the ECB “need to act fast” because omitting players based on their nationality “should not be allowed to happen”.

Players from Pakistan have not featured in the IPL since 2009 because of diplomatic tensions between Pakistan and India, and a refusal to sign players in The Hundred would follow the trend elsewhere in the franchise world.

No Pakistan players have featured in South Africa’s SA20, which launched in 2023. All six of its teams are owned by IPL franchise groups – including the four now involved in The Hundred.

In the United Arab Emirates’ ILT20, franchises controlled by the owners of MI London and Southern Brave have not signed a Pakistan player across four seasons, but have recruited cricketers from 15 other nationalities.

By contrast, American-owned ILT20 side Desert Vipers have signed eight Pakistan players over the same period.

Brook, who will have another busy schedule this summer as a multi-format England player, said he has already told Sunrisers he will not continue as captain.

“I am staying away from that stuff and will let the head coach and whoever is in charge control that,” he said.

In response to the BBC’s initial story, an ECB spokesperson said: “The Hundred welcomes men’s and women’s players from all over the world and we would expect the eight teams to reflect that.

“Almost 1,000 cricketers from 18 nations have registered for The Hundred auction, with representation on the longlist of over 50 players respectively from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies.”

Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire are the four Hundred teams not owned by IPL franchises.

This was once the site of an important castle in England, but it is now a great viewing point.

The site of a former Norman castle offers some of the best panoramic views of Cambridge. In the 11th century, Cambridge Castle was one of three castles built by William the Conqueror in the east of England.

It was built in the aftermath of William’s bid to capture York. The castle was considered strategically important to the north of England.

It also played an important role in the First and Second Baron wars, as well as conflicts of the Anarchy. In the 14th century, the castle fell into despair.

During this period, little money was spent on the castle under Edward III’s reign. In 1642, the Civil War then broke out between the Royalists and Parliament.

The castle was used by Parliamentary forces in the first year of the war. The castle rapidly declined and in 1785, the remaining walls and bastions were taken down.

Today, only a mound is present of the castle and stairs that lead up to it. Although it seems like an empty hill, if people climb up the stairs, they will experience amazing views of Cambridge.

As people reach the top, they will experience some of the best views of the city. To the left, people will see extensive views of the main city. Castle Mound is also one of the best spots to watch fireworks from during Cambridge’s May Balls.

In the foreground, visitors will see Cambridge University’s Magdalene College. Opposite the college, people may also be able to see the charming Magdalene Street, full of independent shops.

Fuelled by a blistering soundtrack and a dark sense of humour, when Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting landed in cinemas on February 23, 1996, it was a box office hit like no other. 

Based on Irvine Welsh’s book of the same name, the film followed Ewan McGregor’s self-assured addict Renton and friends, as they drifted through drink, drugs and petty crime, making various attempts to escape the clutch heroin had on them.

The stark scenes ripped up Edinburgh’s postcard image of cobbled streets and culture to reveal a city scarred by poverty, decay, and a heroin epidemic spiralling out of control.

The release of the film coincided with the earliest published drug death figures – 244 that year – and three decades on, that bleak reality lingers, with Scotland continuing to wear the grim crown of Europe’s drug death capital.

It’s a title the country has held, unbroken, for the past seven years.

According to research, there were 19.1 drug misuse deaths per 100,000 people in 2024 – nearly four times as high as in 2000. The latest figures, from policing sources, showed 308 suspected drug deaths between January and March 2025, while police officers in Scotland now routinely carry Naloxone, a drug that can quickly reverse the effects of an overdose, saving lives.

So why has so little changed in three decades?

Thomas Delaney, who runs YouthWISE and speaks across the country about drug harm, tells Metro: ‘Inequality is a primary driver of drug abuse. If you grow up in poverty, you’re 18 times more likely to use substances.

‘Scotland was historically an industrial powerhouse and then all the industry left [in the 1970s and 80s], leaving behind inequality, as seen in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation which ranks income, employment, health, education, skills, training and housing.

‘People still think Edinburgh doesn’t have a drug problem,’ he adds, ‘but it is just as bad as in Glasgow, which is three times the size. Edinburgh just masks poverty and inequality because it also has so much wealth.’

Thomas, who lives between Glasgow and Barnsley, has his own experiences of drug use, having spent 15 years as a functioning addict.

He started using cocaine at 17 to numb childhood trauma before immersing himself in the party scene, where drugs became a way to belong and escape. In his twenties, ketamine became a daily dependency, even as Thomas held down a respectable job.

‘For the majority of my addiction, I was walking around in fancy suits, meeting very important people and securing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business a year,’ he recalls.

By 2018, his health collapsed, ketamine had destroyed his bladder and Thomas was ordering drugs from his hospital bed. Even rehab wasn’t the safety net he expected.

‘I’d been to some of the worst drug dens ever and had never seen heroin – I was there for three days and I saw people using it,’ he remembers.

While rehab was a battle Thomas has now been clean for eight years – although many of his peers from that time have since died. He now studies addiction as part of a Master’s in community learning and development.

‘The Scottish National Records and other figures show that the people dying are an aging population that have been long-term dependent, and there are tons of reasons for that – homelessness, punitive measures and the stigma attached to being a drug addict,’adds Thomas.

Addiction specialist and psychiatrist Dr Peter McCann, who is Medical Director at Castle Craig rehab clinic in Edinburgh, tells Metro that the ‘depressing’ statistics show just how much the system is failing in Scotland. ‘We’re still worryingly behind where we need to be on reducing deaths,’ he says.

One problem is the over-reliance on methadone, ‘a treatment with known overdose risks,’ says Dr McCann. In the movie, methadone is depicted as something the system pushes to manage addicts rather than to truly help them heal.

‘If somebody wants to be on methadone, there’s pressure on us to allow that, even if we know as a clinician that it’s a lot more dangerous than buprenorphine,’ he explains. (Buprenorphine, widely used in the US and Europe as a heroin substitute, is 10 times safer in terms of overdose risk but less common in Scotland.)

Like Thomas, Dr McCann believes treating addiction requires addressing broader inequality. While working with NHS patients in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, he saw addiction intertwined with a plethora of other social problems.

‘We had GP practices with lots of different teams working in one place, which is a good model for people needing treatment,’ he explains. ‘But it was really telling how severe and complicated the really unwell patients were.

‘They didn’t just have  an addiction problem, they had housing issues, mental health issues, bipolar disorder, PTSD… there were people who had been attacked from involvement in drug dealing and or there was a lot of cuckooing.

‘Gangs would come from down south, take over someone’s home, weasel their way in by offering them drugs and before you know it, people have been subjected ot violence and sexual trauma.’

Fiona Spargo-Mabbs has spent more than a decade working to reduce drug harm after her 16-year-old son Dan died in 2014 after taking a single ecstasy pill. Believing education could have saved him, she set up the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation eight days after his death.

The DSM Foundation delivers training across the UK, including Scotland, for young people on how risk-taking and impulsive behaviour are linked to brain development – and how to make safe choices about drugs and alcohol.

‘Drug death in Scotland is just heartbreaking, and it’s still off the scale compared to everywhere else. We want to support young people to make safer choices.

‘The diversity of drugs is much greater now,’ Fiona explains to Metro. ‘We are dealing with ketamine overtaking cocaine and MDMA and are seeing THC vapes, and spice, which is a whole other risk. Drug use is changing all the time, so educators are constantly evolving their understanding to stay ahead of the curve.’

At festivals, testing has revealed MDMA doses two to three times stronger than the harmful threshold, she adds. The dose that killed Dan – a talented and popular year 12 kid who ran errands for elderly people on his paper round – was twelve times stronger than what has caused deaths in the past.

‘We didn’t realise somebody like Dan could be so close to something that had quite so much risk. If something like this could happen to someone like my son, then it could be anyone,’ warns Fiona.

‘If Dan had had a better understanding of what those risks were, I feel sure that he would have been able to manage that decision more safely and come home.’

Rod Anderson, director of Recovery Coaching Scotland, agrees that drugs are now more accessible than ever.

‘You can get a bag of pills or crystals of ket for a fiver. You can order a bag of drugs, easier than you can order pizza, on Snapchat or WhatsApp,’ he says.

Rod, a recovering alcoholic, lost everything to his addiction; his marriage, sons, job and health, before getting sober 12 years ago after frequent attempts. He has since rebuilt his life and relationships, but knows how hard it is to escape addiction.

‘You don’t just wake up one morning think – I’ll have a bottle of vodka for breakfast. You can’t stop at that point, because the withdrawal process is so unpleasant,’ he tells Metro.

‘Everything else in your life at that point becomes irrelevant – relationships, jobs, money. It’s a horrible, horrible place to be, and that’s why a lot of people don’t come back from it, because they die, or they kill themselves, or they end up in jail.’

And jails, he argues, are no safe haven.

‘Drugs are just as easy or even easier to get hold of inside than they are in the community.’

Rod also points out that 70% of drug deaths in Scotland now involve poly-drug use, including alcohol. ‘The drug scene has changed dramatically since the heroin of the Trainspotting generation. Fast forward to now, a lot of those people are dead.

‘People are still using heroin with a whole load of other things, like crack cocaine and synthetic opioids, and that’s dangerous – like Russian roulette. You don’t know what’s going to be in this next hit.

‘What we are looking at now is a much more dangerous environment than 30 years ago.’

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Sunbridge Childcare will provide care to two children aged between six and 17 years old at the property in The Paddock, Toronto. 

The planning application was supported by Councillor Cathy Hunt, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, who said it will provide “much-needed” accommodation and it aligns with the council’s care emergency pledge. 

But a local petition signed by 200 people objected to the children’s home conversion. Residents warned that the area is a quiet family village with many elderly people and children, and is not suitable for a children’s home. 

Those concerns were supported by county councillor Tom Redmond, Reform member for Bishop Auckland, who said the number of responses showed how strongly residents felt about the suitability of the location. 

He told the committee: “Residents are not against supporting vulnerable children; their concern is the steady change within their community and the feeling that the area is carrying more than its fair share of supporting institutional abuse.”

Joy Allen, Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said the county has “reached saturation point” and cannot continually place children in accommodation that isn’t appropriate to their needs. 

But staff at Sunbridge insisted its latest facility is the “right environment for children to settle and succeed”. 

The committee was told that the day-to-day operation of the home is closely aligned with that of a family house.  

Nick Astaire, from Sunbridge, said: “We believe strongly in community and being good neighbours. We are not absentee operators; we are locally engaged, accountable, and visible. Our homes operate as closely to traditional family homes as possible. 

“We are not a drain on the police and have had zero callouts in the last 12 months.”

Approving the scheme, Councillor Michael Stead, Liberal Demcorat member for Aycliffe North and Middridge, said: “In my experience, in my ward, there’s been next to no issues when we’ve had approvals like this, especially with professional companies. 

“This property ticks every single box. The applicants aren’t being overly zealous with the number of children they want to put in there.” 

Also backing the proposal, Reform’s Jill Campbell added: “There is a need for residential provision with places like this. I don’t feel this is a case where there are sufficient reasons to say no. It looks like a good proposal.”

Westhoughton restaurant Mangrove, located on 1 Manchester Road, received a rating of one out of five, meaning major improvement is necessary, following an inspection by Bolton Council on January 8, 2026.

The rating applies to both the restaurant and its takeaway service.

Inspectors found that hygiene standards required improvement, structural conditions needed improvement, and confidence in management was rated as “major improvement necessary”.

Owner and manager Abdul Atique said: “I’m very shocked with how low it is.

“When it comes to management, we weren’t even allowed to speak.

“I’m the owner and manager and I wasn’t allowed to speak.”

He attributed some of the issues identified during the inspection to bin collection problems over the festive period.

Mr Atique said: “It was just after Christmas and there was a major issue with bins not being collected by Bolton Council.

“Bin bags were piling up in the garden, that was the major issue.”

The food hygiene rating scheme, while legally enforced in Wales and Northern Ireland, is voluntary for display in England.

Ratings reflect hygiene standards observed during the inspection and cover food handling, cleanliness of facilities, and management of food safety.

Officers evaluate three key areas: how food is handled and stored, the condition and cleanliness of the premises, and the effectiveness of food safety management systems.

Businesses with low ratings are required to make urgent improvements, and food safety officers can use enforcement powers or provide guidance as appropriate.

Despite the concerns raised, Mr Atique expressed confidence in his management and staff.

He said: “I’m confident with the management and confident in what I’m doing.

“I’ve done this for a while.

“We’ve always had full staff and good ratings.”

He explained that some staff were nervous during the inspection.

Mr Atique said: “The chefs got a bit panicky and didn’t give correct answers.

“They were hesitant over what to say and got nervous.”

He has already paid more than £200 for a re-inspection.

He said: “I know I am not 100 per cent innocent, there are requirements that need to be improved.

“But we’re trying to keep on top of things, and I think a one is harsh.”

Mr Atique also suggested that the ratings may not always reflect the full picture.

He said: “I’ve noticed several other eateries near me are a three that should be four or five, I think they’re being harsher.”

He added that achieving the highest ratings can be challenging.

Mr Atique said: “Five and four are very hard to get.

“A little fault and it’s a four, you’ve got to be perfect.”

The Food Standards Agency states that the scheme helps customers make informed choices about where to eat or buy food based on hygiene standards.

Despite the low rating, Mangrove was shortlisted for The Bolton News Curry House Awards 2024.

The restaurant currently holds a 4.3 rating on TripAdvisor.

Five symptoms you should see your GP about if you’re over 40

Ongoing tiredness or exhaustion:

Unexplained weight loss:

Persistent or new pain

Changes in bowel or bladder habits:

Memory problems:

Some ran towards the borders; others, to the enlistment offices. “I froze, trying to master my fear,” says Oleh, a publishing graduate and former NGO worker. “I am not a military man, I have never seen myself like that, and I did not understand how ordinary people could stand in the way of such a powerful enemy like Russia.”

First appointed as captain in 2023, the Aghyaran native has led Tyrone out in Croke Park for back-to-back intermediate final appearances and lifted the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup last summer following their win over Laois

She might be in her fourth season in the role, but Aghyaran St Davog’s star Aoibhinn McHugh has insisted it remains a massive honour to be captain of the Tyrone ladies football team.

First appointed to the position in 2023, McHugh led the Red Hands out in Croke Park for back-to-back final appearances in the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship in the two years that followed her debut campaign as skipper.

She was also captain of Tyrone when they competed in a Lidl National Football League Division 2 decider at GAA HQ on April 7, 2024.

This year now sees Tyrone returning to the second-tier of the NFL and team leader McHugh has featured in all three of their league games to date against Monaghan, Westmeath and Donegal.

“It’s definitely still a huge honour. I don’t think it loses that part of it. Every year when management selects me again, it’s a bit of a confidence boost. You’re honoured, but at the same time I think we’ve had a similar sort of team now for the past couple of years and we have other leaders. We’re probably settled as well, which is good,” McHugh acknowledged.

While Kildare and Leitrim got the better of them in league and championship showpieces respectively in the same venue during a hectic 2024, August 3 of last year proved to be a much more satisfactory outing in Croke Park for McHugh and Tyrone.

Despite coming under pressure from their Midlands counterparts throughout the course of the action, the Ulster outfit registered a 2-16 to 1-13 victory over Laois in an entertaining TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship final.

Playing alongside Slaine McCarroll in midfield, McHugh contributed a late point as Tyrone made amends for an agonising one-point reversal to the aforementioned Leitrim in the previous year’s decider. As captain of the team, she was the first player to climb the steps of the Hogan Stand to receive the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup from LGFA President Trina Murray.

“It’s obviously a massive honour to be the captain, but in particular last year winning an All-Ireland, and being lucky enough to be the captain, was obviously huge. It was a big day for all the families and clubs involved,” McHugh recalled of that 2025 final.

“I think for us, we’re probably just now trying to look towards this year and build on last year. We’ve a lot of work to do this year and a lot of tough opponents coming. That’s probably our focus now.

“We have kept nearly all the girls from last year, which is massive. It sort of means that we hopefully can use last year as a momentum and benefit. I think winning probably brought a lot of the girls closer as well. Thank God we’ve kept most of our players.”

Given she was part of the panel when Tyrone won their previous All-Ireland intermediate crown in 2018, McHugh is acutely aware of the challenges that come with making the step up to the senior grade.

The Red Hand certainly made a strong impression upon their return to the Brendan Martin Cup in 2019, making the quarter-final stage of the All-Ireland SFC after recording an excellent group phase triumph over provincial rivals Donegal at TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar.

Tyrone subsequently went on to enjoy two more campaigns in the senior championship, before being relegated to the All-Ireland IFC for the 2022 season.

It hasn’t been an easy road back to the top grade, but McHugh and her inter-county colleagues are eager to embrace all that Ulster and All-Ireland senior football has to offer them later on this summer.

“It’s where every team wants to be. You want to be playing at the top level. It has been a while since we’ve played in the senior championship. We’re delighted to be back and credit to the girls for all the work that has been put in there and the management over the last couple of years. To get us to win an All-Ireland and get us there this year.

“We’re delighted to be in the senior Ulster championship. We’re delighted to be going to play Donegal and Armagh, so we’re looking forward to it. We’ll look forward to playing in it, but our focus now is on the league and then we’ll look to the championship during the summer.”

While being the newly-promoted side in the senior championship can be daunting, Tyrone won’t necessarily be stepping into the unknown this year. The county featured in Division 1 of the Lidl NFL in 2025 and all seven teams they faced will be competing for the Brendan Martin Cup this summer.

Additionally, Tyrone are one of four senior outfits in this season’s NFL Division 2. They have already faced one of this cohort in Donegal – they lost 3-9 to 1-8 against the O’Donnell women in Aghyaran on February 8 – and are now set to lock horns with another in Mayo at O’Neills Healy Park in Omagh tomorrow afternoon at 2pm.

A meeting with Tipperary (All-Ireland SFC quarter-finalists in 2025) will also follow in the seventh and final round of the league on Sunday, March 29 and McHugh is hopeful that facing so many top-tier counties between this year and last year will stand them in good stead for what is to come in the championship.

Before then Tyrone will be aiming for a repeat of their promotion charge from 2024, but McHugh stressed that tough battles lie in wait for the Red Hand in Division 2.

“Hopefully that will stand to us [facing senior teams in the league]. We had the exposure to it last year in Division One of the league, which was good. Then this year Tipperary, Donegal and Mayo are the three senior teams. Hopefully that will stand to us and we’ll be ready. Knowing what to expect going into the senior championship,” McHugh added.

“Division Two is a tough division. There’s no easy game there. Hopefully it will stand to us. Hopefully we can use all these challenges. I think as well in the league, you can have some tough away games. They’re hard to get through, but hopefully the experience throughout the league will help us.”

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