FIRST SOUTH bus drivers in the Solent area will hold a four-day pay strike over the August bank holiday weekend their union, Unite, announced today.

Bosses are refusing to make a “reasonable cost-of-living payment” to staff, who service cities including Portsmouth and Southampton for just £12 an hour, it stressed.

Union general secretary Sharon Graham slammed the “bare-faced cheek” of the profitable company.

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THE Liberal Democrats have announced businessman and long-standing London Assembly member Rob Blackie as their candidate for next year’s London mayoral contest.

Mr Blackie described himself today as a much-needed “liberal challenger” to Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan and accused the Tories, whose last month chose London Assembly member Susan Hall as their candidate, of having effectively given up on London.

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NA H-EILEANAN AN IAR (Western Isles) MP Angus Bredan MacNeil has been expelled from the SNP, it was revealed today.

He lost the whip for a week in July after an argument with party whip Brendan O’Hara, before resigning altogether to attack SNP independence strategy.

Mr MacNeill tweeted: “I didn’t leave the SNP – the SNP have left me. I wish they were as bothered about independence as they are about me!”

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THE number of households in England removed from their homes by courts as a result of no-fault evictions is up 41 per cent since last year, research by a charity has found.

Shelter urged the government to scrap the Section 21 powers in the delayed Renters (Reform) Bill as its figures show that more than 7,400 renters were placed at risk of homelessness.