The council needs cash for the coming years

Car parks, toilets, derelict schools, a town hall and a former library are all to be sold by cash-strapped Trafford council in a bid to generate money.

Recent weeks have revealed the extent of the authority’s financial woes, with bosses needing a loan of more than £12 million from the Government to balance the books – something they are legally bound to do. Residents are also set to be hit by one of the highest council tax rises in the country after special dispensation was given for a 7.49pc hike in the charge for the second year running.

But these measures are still not enough to solve the problem. Some £17 million of savings are lined up for the coming years, while Trafford is also looking to sell off land and buildings to bring in some more cash.

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Among the assets expected to be disposed of are Altrincham Town Hall and the former Altrincham Library, documents reveal. Two disused schools, the former Moss View Primary School site, in Partington, and the former Trafford High School site, in Flixton, also feature on the list.

A number of car parks, a block of toilets, the former Davyhulme Youth Centre and the Jubilee Centre – a community centre in Bowdon – are also proposed for disposal. Trafford has said it needs to generate around £10 million through land and property sales to fund its capital programme over the coming years.

Capital funds are money set aside for projects, as opposed to day-to-day operational costs. A full list of the sites planned to be sold can be found below.

All of the sites listed have been labelled “surplus” by the authority, which said getting rid of them would reduce its costs and its maintenance backlog while also creating regeneration opportunities.

The authority has also identified a number of areas it wants to redevelop itself, either alone or as a joint venture, to increase the potential for profit generation from them in future years. These include the former Sale Magistrates site, in Altrincham, and land in Lacy Street, Stretford, where the former probation office once stood.

Sites to be sold

1. Former RBS Bank, Central Road, Partington
2. Stamford Quarter and Stretford Mall
3. Former Altrincham Library, Stamford New Road, Altrincham (1st Floor and ground floor)
4. The Jubilee Centre, St Marys Road, Bowdon
5. Wharf Road Garages, Altrincham
6. Altrincham Town Hall
7. Land at Balmoral Road, Altrincham
8. Land at Central Way, Altrincham
9. Brown Street Car Park, Hale
10. Land at Irlam Road, Flixton
11. Land at Lime Road, Stretford
12. Land in Davenport Green
13. Land at Seymour Grove, Old Trafford
14. Former Primary School, Moss View, Partington
15. Former Trafford High School
16. Redundant Cemetery Chapels – subject to operational review
17. Land at Keswick Rd, Moss Road, Old Trafford
18. Land off City Road, Old Trafford, M15 4FA
19. Car Park Eleventh Street, Trafford Park, M17 1JF
20. Toilets, Third Avenue, Trafford Park
21. Former Davyhulme Youth Centre, Davyhulme
22. Priory Road, Bowdon
23. Land at Firsway, Sale – New Access to site
24. Car Park Empress Street, Old Trafford, M16 9EN

Sites to be redeveloped

1. Partington Town Centre Site (land to the rear of Partington Shopping Centre)
2. Former Sale Magistrates Site
3. Stokoe Avenue, Altrincham
4. Former Tamworth Court Site, Old Trafford
5. Chapel Road, Sale
6. K Site, Stretford
7. Lacy Street Land Assembly, Former Sorting Office, Probation Service Building, Lacy Street Car Park
8. Land at Oakfield Rd/Moss Lane, Altrincham

John Swinney is on course to remain as First Minister despite the Nationalists facing a “clear sense of voter disillusionment after nearly two decades in office”.

The SNP is close to winning a majority of MSPs at the Holyrood election in May despite “voter disillusionment” with the party’s 20 years in power, a new poll has found.

A survey out today by More in Common puts support for the Nationalists at 33 per cent on the constituency vote and 31 per cent on the list. If such a result was replicated on polling day it could hand John Swinney 64 MSPs – one short of an overall majority.

The SNP leader has argued that if his party hits the magic number of 65 it should act as a mandate to begin negotiations with the UK Government to stage a second referendum on independence.

Labour and Reform UK are currently fighting it out for second place, with Anas Sarwar’s party on 19 per cent in the constituency vote – just one point ahead Nigel Farage’s outfit. The two parties are tied at 16 per cent on the list.

That could leave Labour with just 16 MSPs, while Reform could end up with 17.

The survey is especially bad for the Scottish Conservatives who stand to lose more than half of their MSPs, ending up with just 12 elected members.

Luke Tryl of More in Common said the SNP could win big at the election thanks to the “highly fragmented” nature of the Scottish electorate – with no opposition party providing a clear alternative to the Nationalists.

The pollster said: “Despite a big fall in support since 2021 and a clear sense of voter disillusionment after nearly two decades in office, our latest modelling suggests the SNP could emerge from the next Holyrood election within touching distance of an outright majority.

“At a time when incumbent governments across the UK and beyond are facing a powerful anti-incumbent mood, Scotland might prove something of an exception.

READ MORE: John Swinney ‘tipped off’ over Peter Murrell trial as Lord Advocate called before MSPsREAD MORE: Glasgow council to hike tax by 5% and borrow £30m to tackle refugee homelessness crisis

“Because of the first-past-the-post system for the constituency vote, the SNP could receive a significant boost from a highly fragmented Scottish electorate. Additionally, much of the disillusionment among Scottish voters is directed at Westminster as well as Holyrood, limiting Labour’s ability to position itself as a clear anti-incumbent alternative to the SNP.

“In this context, we’re likely to see a Reform UK breakthrough on the horizon. On their current level of support, it’s possible that Reform could be competing with Labour for second place in Holyrood.”

Keith Brown, SNP depute leader, said: “This poll shows Scottish voters are putting their faith in John Swinney’s strong leadership which is firmly on Scotland’s side amid chaos from Westminster.

“As the Westminster parties tear themselves apart over scandals, John Swinney’s relentless focus has been on Scotland’s NHS, the cost of living crisis and offering people hope through a fresh start with independence.”

A spokesperson for Reform UK said: “It is clear from the poll that the SNP has run out of steam and ideas. After two decades of managed decline the people are ready for reform.

“The SNP has made everything is worse from the public services to town centres. The tax burden is weighing heavily on Scottish people and we will change that.

“They are fed up and this poll only further confirms what Reform has said all along. This is a two-horse race. We are going head-to-head with SNP.”

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American star Mikaela Shiffrin cemented her status as the greatest alpine skier of all time as she won Olympic slalom gold in emphatic fashion.

Twelve years on from winning the title in Sochi aged 18, Shiffrin stormed to victory with an overall time of 1:39:10, a significant 1.50 seconds ahead of second place to become a three-time Olympic champion.

The 30-year-old put herself in pole position with a time of 47.13 seconds in the first run, a gap of 0.82 seconds to second-place Lena Duerr.

The German was the only skier to finish within one second of Shiffrin but she straddled the first gate on her second run to put herself out of medal contention.

That left Shiffrin with what was ultimately an exhibition run to take gold and she completed the run in 51.97 seconds.

Switzerland’s Camille Rast won silver while Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson took bronze.

More to follow.

The case of Seamus Culleton – who was detained by US immigration agents in Boston in September 2025 – is proving a diplomatic headache for the Irish government ahead of a visit to the White House on St Patrick’s Day.

Culleton arrived in the US in 2009, overstaying his visa. He married a US citizen last year and obtained a valid work permit, and was in the process of applying for permanent residency when he was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and detained. He has remained in detention in Texas since. A US court has now issued a temporary order staying his deportation.

Culleton’s case shines a rare light on the “undocumented” Irish in the US, a group that is rarely mentioned in US discussions around illegal immigration. The very idea of being undocumented in the US is associated with people from Mexico and Central and South America, not white people of European descent.

That perception reflects the racial exceptionalism that has long shadowed the Irish push for immigration reform in the US.

This history largely began in 1965, when the Immigration Reform and Nationality Act, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, radically changed conditions of immigration into the US. One effect was to reduce the numbers of Irish able to legally settle in the US.

Since the late 1960s, there have been efforts by successive groups to push for immigration reform that would advantage Irish immigration. While this work led to some successes, there was ultimate failure to secure comprehensive immigration reform.

Since the 1980s, advocacy has been primarily driven by Irish-born immigrants. At that time, the US saw an influx of immigrants leaving an economically impoverished Ireland. Many overstayed their tourist or student visas, and became undocumented – having no legal status in the US. It is estimated that there are 10,000 undocumented Irish living in the US today.

During research I was involved with in Chicago in 2017, a number of undocumented Irish consented to be interviewed anonymously. They were notably uneasy due to the recent election of President Trump and his avowedly anti-immigrant stance, expressing a sense of increased fear and uncertainty.

Equally, they were conscious that their race made them less visible to the authorities than the large numbers of undocumented people of Hispanic heritage. One interviewee commented: “People don’t think that we would be undocumented. I’m white, I can speak English, I’m Irish … that is not what the Americans are thinking of.”

The majority of our interviewees and survey respondents favoured immigration reform for undocumented Irish. But several observed that there can be opposition to such reform within the Irish community. A first generation Irish priest who had close relations with Irish communities, including the undocumented, commented: “Those who have legal status in the Irish community are not supportive, and sometimes opposed to the undocumented Irish. There’s pushback more so than in the Latino community … the Irish are quite divided.”

This schism between settled and sojourner Irish in the US is rarely mentioned, yet significant. The undocumented Irish take on a symbolic resonance, disrupting the common success narrative of how the Irish “made it” in the US.

In the past, the law was applied leniently to overstays who were building a life in the US, giving them opportunity to regularise their status. But in the second Trump administration, as ICE more rigidly and aggressively apprehends people who are deportable, the unease of undocumented Irish is even more heightened.

A St. Patrick’s Day dilemma

Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin is in a difficult position as his visit to Washington approaches. According to a statement by Martin, there are “five to six” cases of Irish citizens currently detained by ICE. There is little clarity on how many have already been deported or how many have elected to quietly return to Ireland.

Irish opposition politicians and others in Ireland have taken up Culleton’s case to berate Martin for not doing enough to stand up to Trump. Some have demanded he pull out of the visit, which would be diplomatically awkward – Martin does not want to pull out of the scheduled meeting with Trump and all it entails for Ireland-US relations.

This is a volatile period in those relations. Trump is deeply unpopular in Ireland. Underneath this is a growing Irish disconnect with the US, including a notably conservative Irish America.

Martin can’t admit any of that, of course. His job is to steer a safe and prosperous course, making his visit to the White House without causing headlines. On the Culleton case, he is adamant that a softly-softly diplomatic approach is best, saying: “Let’s not do anything that could make that even more difficult. This cannot be resolved in the public domain.”

That approach appears to have been made more challenging by Culleton’s decision to speak out about his case and about conditions in the Texas detention centre. He described it to national Irish broadcaster RTE as “a modern-day concentration camp” and said he feared for his life.

The discovery that Culleton was facing drug charges in Ireland at the time he moved to the US may further complicate the story, perhaps diminishing popular Irish support. It is also likely to harden the determination of US homeland security officials to deport him.

The story also has resonance due to the fact that Culleton is white. The last year has seen much debate about whether ICE’s actions have been targeting people of colour. Some conservative commentators are pressing for Culleton’s deportation to signify that ICE is colour-blind – “Yes, Even White, Irish Illegal Immigrants Must Be Deported” runs the headline of a Fox News opinion piece.

Whatever the outcome of Culleton’s case, it has already turned a spotlight on the fraught racial politics around being Irish and undocumented in America.

Stephen Colbert isn’t backing down in an extraordinary public dispute with his bosses at CBS over what he can air on his late-night talk show.

On “The Late Show” Tuesday, Colbert said he was surprised by a statement from CBS denying that its lawyers told him he couldn’t show an interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico — which the host said had happened the night before.

He then took a copy of the network statement, wrapped it in a dog poop bag, and tossed it away.

Colbert had instead shown his Talarico interview on YouTube, but told viewers why he couldn’t show it on CBS. The network was concerned about FCC Chairman Brendan Carr trying to enforce a rule that required broadcasters to give “equal time” to opposing candidates when an interview was broadcast with one of them.

“We looked and we can’t find one example of this rule being enforced for any talk show interview, not only for my entire late-night career, but for anyone’s late-night career going back to the 1960s,” Colbert said.

Although Carr said in January he was thinking about getting rid of the exemption for late-night talk shows, he hadn’t done it yet. “But CBS generously did it for him,” Colbert said.

Not only had CBS been aware Monday night that Colbert was going to talk about this issue publicly, its lawyers had even approved it in his script, he said. That’s why he was surprised by the statement, which said that Colbert had been provided “legal guidance” that broadcasting the interview could trigger the equal time rule.

“I don’t know what this is about,” Colbert said. “For the record, I’m not even mad. I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one.”

He said he was “just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies.” CBS is owned by Paramount Global.

Colbert is a short-timer now at CBS. The network announced last summer that Colbert’s show, where President Donald Trump is a frequent target of biting jokes, would end in May. The network said it was for economic reasons but others — including Colbert — have expressed skepticism that Trump’s repeated criticism of the show had nothing to do with it.

This week’s dispute with Colbert also recalls last fall, when ABC took late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air for a remark made about the killing of conservative activist founder Charlie Kirk, only to reinstate him following a backlash by viewers.

As of Wednesday morning, Colbert’s YouTube interview with Talarico had been viewed more than five million times, or roughly double what the comic’s CBS program draws each night. The Texas Democrat also reported that he had raised $2.5 million in campaign donations in the 24 hours after the interview.

___

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

Wintry showers are set to fall from 5pm as sleet before snow falls throughout the night, turning to sleet into the early hours and during the rush hour.

Temperatures will reach a high of five degrees and lows of two degrees.

Wintry showers are set to move in, with snow expected to continue throughout tonight, February 17, and into the early hours of Thursday, February 19, until approximately 8am.

The Met Office has cautioned that there’s a slight possibility of delays on roads, potentially resulting in some vehicles and passengers being stranded.

Both rail and air services may also encounter delays or cancellations.

Snowfall could also isolate some rural communities.

Possible power cuts and disruptions to services, including mobile signals, have also been predicted.

Snow showers are expected in Bolton on Wednesday afternoon.

By Thursday morning, sleet showers are set to begin, with an 80 per cent chance of precipitation at 6am.

Temperatures are forecast to peak at around 5C.

Conditions are expected to turn drier during the afternoon.

However, spells of rain, sleet and snow will push northwards through the evening.

Tonight, rain, sleet and hill snow will continue to move northwards, turning lighter and more patchy towards the end of the night as winds begin to ease.

“It’s heartbreaking now, when I think about it, that young Noah has gone on”

A retired police officer has described the “horrendous” conditions in a storm drain tunnel network in which the body of Noah Donohoe was discovered.

Retired inspector Menary, who previously managed the PSNI hazardous environment search (HES) team, told Belfast coroner’s court that anyone entering the tunnel without protective clothing would have been “absolutely frozen”.

The inquest into the death of the schoolboy at Belfast Coroner’s Court, which is being heard with a jury, is now in its fourth week.

READ MORE: Noah Donohoe inquest LIVE updates as inspector says it’s “heartbreaking” to think of teen in “freezing” tunnelREAD MORE: Police encountered ‘hostile’ behaviour during Noah Donohoe search in park

Noah, a pupil of St Malachy’s College, was 14 when he was found dead in a storm drain tunnel in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after leaving home on his bike to meet two friends in the Cavehill area of the city.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was drowning.

Resuming his evidence on Wednesday, Mr Menary told the jury that his team had resumed his search of a stretch of the storm drain network on Thursday June 25, four days after Noah went missing.

The tunnel could be accessed from a culvert entrance in Northwood Linear Park in north Belfast, close to where Noah had last been seen on the Sunday before.

Mr Menary told the jury that at this stage he was involved in a search operation, not a body recovery operation.

He said at that point there was “no evidence” Noah had gone down into the storm drain.

He said: “We were looking for anything strange or out of the ordinary within the culvert.”

Mr Menary searched in an area underneath Seaview football pitch, the home of Crusaders FC.

Describing the conditions, he said: “It’s freezing cold. My flood suit at the time is sealed, but doesn’t fully seal around the waist, so when I was lying down the water was coming over the top of me and up into the bottom of my jacket.”

Counsel for the coroner Declan Quinn asked what it would have been like for someone to be in the tunnel without protective clothing.

Mr Menary said: “Somebody doing that with no clothes would have been absolutely horrendous and you would have been absolutely frozen.”

Mr Quinn asked about the physical exertion which would have been needed for someone to travel from the entrance to the culvert system at Linear Park to the stretch of tunnel which the retired officer had searched.

Mr Menary said: “The water would have continually come over you and you would have been frozen.

“You begin to get disorientated because of the cold, you begin to slow down and you just continually move on that section underneath the football pitch.”

The retired officer said it was “heartbreaking” to think Noah had been in the tunnel.

He said: “It’s hard and that bit underneath the pitch was fairly horrendous.”

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Asked about the email to the First Minister, a spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service told PA: “The Lord Advocate provided the First Minister with an update to ensure it was understood she was not involved in the case, that it was active for contempt of court, and therefore it should not be commented upon.

Lying face-down in a floating cabana during an aromatherapy massage in a 500,000-year-old cave is the closest thing to nirvana I’ve ever experienced.

My cabana sits above an azure underground lake, and I’m entirely surrounded by stalactites, hanging like icicles from the roof, and stalagmites (mounds formed on the floor) in Prospero’s Cave, Bermuda.

It’s hard to imagine a more calming setting as I feel my muscles relax, to the soundtrack of the drips of water (or calcium carbonate deposits, more accurately) falling from the ceiling, echoing around this ancient cavern.

This cave and the nearby Cathedral Cave form a pair of expansive ancient underground limestone grottos beneath Grotto Bay Beach Resort & Spa.

Guests can also take a dip in the Cathedral Cave’s naturally cool waters – which reaches depths of nine metres – a welcome relief from the balmy outside temperatures.

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Read more: I tried to transform my gut health at a five-day wellness retreat

These caves were first discovered during Bermuda’s early colonisation. It’s thought that Sir George Somers, whose ship was wrecked near the country’s shore in 1609, first discovered Prospero’s Cave.

Now, the resort’s Natura Spa, set inside the cave itself with just three overwater cabanas, offers an exclusive setting for a variety of treatments – and it’s said to be one of the few places in the world for such a unique experience. It also marks the beginning of my wellness journey on this beautiful archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Famous for its pink-sand beaches and turquoise waters, the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, comprising seven main islands within an archipelago of 181 in total, is positioning itself as a leading destination for wellness-focused travellers.

I’m pleasantly surprised by the mild winter temperatures in January, ranging from 16 to 20 degrees Celsius, a respite from the harsh British winter and some eight hours away by air.

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But Bermuda feels worth visiting for the warmth and hospitality of its people alone. Walking around the capital, Hamilton, on Main Island, with pastel-coloured buildings lining the waterfront, splashes of street art, and charming shops and cafés, it’s almost impossible to pass anyone without being greeted with a smile.

I’m staying at the luxurious five-star Rosewood Bermuda on Tucker’s Point in Hamilton Parish, home to Bermuda’s largest private pink‑sand beach.

The sand has a subtle pink hue on several beaches here, thanks to the presence of a microscopic marine organism, foraminifera – its bright red or pink shells mix with white sand and tiny coral fragments, giving the distinctive colour.

And a trip to Bermuda wouldn’t be complete without a visit to nearby Horseshoe Bay, the island’s famous crescent-shaped pink-sand beach with dramatic limestone cliffs.

My spacious room, complete with its own private balcony and a dark-wood, four-poster king bed, has views straight over the North Atlantic Ocean.

This 240-acre resort also features a spa, five scenic swimming pools, and three restaurants with two bars, the perfect setting to relax and unwind.

Read more: A sauna culture is transforming how people explore Scotland’s wilds

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The island’s food and drink scene celebrates flavours and produce unique to its shores. A driver, Tim, insisted I couldn’t leave without trying a Dark ’n’ Stormy, made with Gosling’s Black Seal rum and ginger beer, and the famous Bermuda fish sandwich: fried white fish served on toasted raisin bread. It’s a challenge I happily accept.

The main objective on this trip, however, was to explore the full range of wellness experiences Bermuda has to offer.

One stop on the wellness tour is a barre class at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club. Also known as the ‘Pink Palace’, the hotel boasts an impressive art collection, including original works by Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, and prides itself on being Bermuda’s only luxury urban resort.

But no one embodies Bermuda’s wellness ethos quite like Jessica Burns, founder of The Retreat House, described as “a sanctuary for connecting more deeply with yourself, others and the natural world of Bermuda”.

A Bermuda native, Burns established the business after losing her mother, Kim, to ovarian cancer in 2023. Leaving behind her corporate career in London, she returned home to transform the beach-facing property her mother had rented to tourists for more than a decade into The Retreat House.

Read more: I went on a Caribbean retreat hosted by Kim Kardashian’s clairvoyant

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Since 2024, she’s hosted a range of retreats, from the Kim Burns Retreats for people living with cancer, to programmes designed for expectant mothers. Her aim, she tells me, is to help establish Bermuda as “one of the world’s leading wellness destinations,” encouraging travellers to embrace the island’s healing nature.

With its turquoise waters, lush tropical greenery, and unhurried pace of life, Bermuda naturally fosters relaxation and restoration.

But it’s also rich in natural culinary sources and medicinal plants. I join a foraging tour with local vegan chef Doreen Williams-James on Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve, at the south-eastern tip of the island. She leads us on a leisurely walk, pointing out edible and medicinal plants along the way, including Old Spice, fennel, wood sorrel, hibiscus, and scurvy grass.

“I grew up eating scurvy grass, a coastal, vitamin C-rich plant, as a child,” Williams-James explains.

“My father would take me out at this time of year to pick it – it only grows once a year. When sailors first arrived on the island, their diet consisted largely of salted pork, which led to vitamin C deficiency and scurvy. They discovered that eating this plant cured the disease, which is why [we know] it’s so high in vitamin C.”

She also touts the health benefits of eating seasonally: “At this time of year, there are so many plants naturally high in vitamin C. Eating what’s in season can help prevent illness and support healing through food.”

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Foraging isn’t just a popular activity on the island, it was once a way of life. Williams-James adds: “For the older generation, foraging was simply how they lived – that’s what they ate and relied on. When I go foraging now, younger people often look at me and think, ‘What is she doing?’ But I’m seeing more of them join my tours because they want to eat better and embrace a different lifestyle.”

From a massage in an ancient cave to foraging in the wild and spending time on unspoilt beaches, I leave Bermuda feeling refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of city life once again.

Lynn’s trip was hosted by the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

How to do it

British Airways flies from London Heathrow to Bermuda five times weekly with return economy flights starting at £891.

Nightly rates at the Rosewood Bermuda for a double room begin at £437. Spa treatments at Grotto Bay Beach Resort start at USD $100 (£73).

Read more: The islands breaking the mould for a Nordic wellness experience