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Why not relax, and converse into the night on the day’s events in PB NightHawks.

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The round up of recent events (click on the links below, and it will bring up the relevant link)

1. Nick Clegg tweets ‘Ed Balls’ to signal thawing of party relations. Shadow chancellor replies ‘I agree with Nick’ after giving interview hinting at stronger chance of Lab-Lib coalition in 2015
2. Here’s the interview with Ed Balls that led to the thawing.
3. Cable slapped down at Cabinet: Osborne tells Lib Dem to stop alarmist warnings about a new house price bubble
4. Why IDS should meet the Trussell Trust as soon as possible
5. Foodbanks: Are there more hungry people than a decade ago?
6. Labour’s 2013 report card: relying on the kindness of strangers is not enough
7. Tories and Labour tied on the big issues. YouGov reveals that the race to win over the electorate on the issues of the day is a dead heat
8. Praise be to Gove for never failing to give teachers something to get angry about 
9. Academy schools ‘more likely to see Ofsted grades rise
10. David Cameron focuses on Ed Miliband’s ‘Entente Fatale’ with François Hollande
11. Mark Duggan inquest: Was he really armed? Were the police under threat? All the key evidence
12. Another Tory says there’s a ‘strong case’ for raising the minimum wage
13. How will Labour respond to the Tories’ minimum wage plans?
14. The Department of Work and Pensions Helps Young People Work In Sex Shops And Porn Films.. But Not As A Cat Fighter
15. ‘Polar vortex’ disruption to cost US economy $5bn. Plunge in temperatures could cost US economy $5bn in lost revenue and shave the equivalent of 0.2pc off first quarter GDP 
16. Chris Christie 2016: A Bridge to Nowhere
17. Who better to convince Scots to reject independence than English celebrities? The Better Together campaign may be growing desperate, but the least it could do is find Scottish C-listers to support it
18. Watch: Tory Toff with a fine haircut David Cameron admit: I’m too posh to fight for Scotland
19. There’s some polling on the IndyRef.
20. Benefits Street: A healthy media would stand up to the powerful and wealthy. Ours targets the poor and voiceless
21. In a move which close observers of German politics are hailing as a radical shift towards British style euroscepticism, the new secretary general of the Christian Social Union, (CSU), has come out with a scathing attack on the leadership of the European Union in Brussels.
22. We want a United States of Europe says top EU official. Voters must decide for or against a United States of Europe during EU elections this spring, says vice president of the European Commission 
23. Sir Alex Ferguson should contribute to Labour’s campaign team, says John Mann MP
24. Tory MP to be contestant on Splash! Penny Mordaunt says she will take part in ITV reality show presented by diver Tom Daley
25. We need to reform pensions – here are some ideas
26. Is Boris saying I Predict A Riot? Met police want water cannon ready to use in Britain by summer. Theresa May has rejected a request for government funds to buy water cannon, letter to Boris Johnson reveals
27. ‘Clegg’s a condom’ and other bizarre outbursts from Boris Johnson
28. Former Irish president urges Cardinal Keith O’Brien to tell life story in order to help gay people
29. Tampons and sanitary pads sent to Australian Immigration minister in protest over refugee supplies
30. Polling on How people in Muslim countries prefer women to dress in public

31. A former Marine allegedly suffocated his 58-year-old stepfather by giving him an ‘atomic wedgie’.

32. Australia’s science agency apologises after failing to create dragon eggs. Australia’s science agency apologies for failing to create a dragon after a 7-year-old asks the scientists to “make a dragon for me”

TSE

Swinton South Local By-Election Result : January 7th 2014 (Thanks to Harry Hayfield)

Neil Blower (Labour) 661 votes (45%, unchanged on 2012, -2% on 2011, +11% on 2010)
Anne Broomhead (Conservative) 298 votes (20%, +4% on 2012, +1% on 2011, -1% on 2010)
Robert Wakefield (United Kingdom Independence Party) 215 votes (15%, no candidate in 2012, +8% on 2011, no candidate in 2010)
Joe O’Neill (Green) 196 votes (13%, -4% on 2012, -4% on 2011, no candidate in 2010)
Paul Whitelegg (English Democrats) 54 votes (4%, -1% on 2012, no candidate in 2011, no candidate in 2010)
Steve Cullen (Trade Unionist and Socialists) 43 votes (3%, no candidate in 2012, no candidate in 2011, no candidate in 2010)

Turnout: 16%

Labour HOLD with a majority of 363 votes (25%) on a swing of 2% from Lab to Con since 2012, 1.5% from Lab to Con since 2011, 6% from Con to Lab since 2010)