Jamie Pearson, 27, had waited nearly 24 hours to see an NHS mental health worker after taking an overdose in August
A 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting nearly 24 hours to see a mental health professional was badly failed by the NHS, his mother has said.
Jamie Pearson was admitted to Blackpool Victoria hospital’s A&E department after taking an overdose of high-strength painkillers on 17 August.
Continue reading...Party source describes region as ‘beating heart of general election battleground’ as prime minister says Labour threw ‘lot of mud’
The results of the London mayoral contest and London assembly elections are due on Saturday. Labour’s Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term and polls have put him comfortably ahead of Tory Susan Hall, despite jitters in Khan’s campaign team.
Following the closure of the polls tonight, Khan said his campaign and Labour activists “sent out a message of fairness, of equality and of hope”.
Continue reading...Pollsters say early results suggest Tories could lose half of council seats contested, putting party on course for as many as 500 losses
Keir Starmer has hailed Labour’s “seismic” win in Blackpool South in a night of local elections that provided further evidence that the party is heading for a large majority at this year’s general election.
The Labour leader called the result in the Blackpool South byelection “truly historic” after the party’s candidate, Chris Webb, won the seat with the third biggest swing from the Conservatives to Labour in postwar history.
Continue reading...MP for Blackpool South, who offered to lobby for gambling industry, loses appeal against 35-day Commons suspension
Rishi Sunak may face another difficult byelection after an MP lost his appeal against a 35-day suspension from parliament for lobbying ministers on behalf of the gambling industry.
Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, formerly a Conservative, had asked for a reconsideration of the standards committee verdict that he had committed an “extremely serious breach of the rules”.
Continue reading...Votes invited for the public’s top 10 resorts and experiences, from beach huts and lidos to the Blackpool Tower
The British seaside may be derided by some for being as tacky as the candyfloss stuck to the side of your mouth. Yet tackiness is fundamental to its charm, according to campaigners who say that seaside heritage sites should be protected as fiercely as castles and stately homes.
The Seaside Heritage Network (SHN) says amusement parks, lidos and scenic railways are all part of the UK’s role in the creation of modern tourism and should be cherished.
Continue reading...Tower-obsessed Charlie Barratt recorded the welcome speech visitors hear as they ascend the lift
Some little boys are obsessed with Lego. Others can’t get enough of dinosaurs. But it is Blackpool Tower that has captured one six-year-old’s imagination.
Now Charlie Barratt has achieved his dream by becoming the voice of the attraction’s lift after news of his superfandom spread.
Continue reading...Heather Wheeler, a minister in the Cabinet Office, made comments at technology event in London
A UK government minister has apologised after calling England’s second city and one of the country’s best-known seaside resorts as “godawful”.
Heather Wheeler referred to Birmingham and Blackpool during a launch of the government’s new digital strategy on Thursday. According to Chris Middleton, a technology journalist who was at the launch, the junior minister in the Cabinet Office said: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”
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