Latest news with #Stevenage
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Swansea enjoy pre-season Pinatar workout against Stevenage
Swansea City continued their pre-season preparations with two one-hour games against Stevenage at the Pinatar Arena in the first game, an own goal and a Bobby Wales strike gave Swansea the lead only for Stevenage to salvage a 2-2 Vipotnik gave the Swans an early lead in the second game, as both sides changed their teams, and his goal proved the continue their pre-season programme on Wednesday against Cheltenham Town.
Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Can the sixth-form bloc stop Nigel Farage for Labour?
Votes for 16 and 17-year-olds was right there in the Labour manifesto but still, no one seems to have seen it coming. 'They're old enough to go out to work, they're old enough to pay tax,' the prime minister said, as he made the announcement. Changes to the voting system are rare. You have to be in power to do it, after all, and if you're in power, you're brave to start mucking about with the system that put you there, as Sir Keir Starmer may eventually find out. These are the traditional arguments made by left-wing types who hope that giving sixth-formers the vote will help them out at the ballot box. Starmer may be the first to eventually have to follow them through to their logical conclusion. If you're giving out votes to people who are 'old enough to work' and 'old enough to pay tax', why not start taking votes away from people who are now too old to do either? That might stop Nigel Farage. It was a bold thing to announce on a busy day. The prime minister also had the newish German chancellor Friedrich Merz in town to sign the 'Kensington Treaty' which, for reasons that didn't appear to have been explained to Herr Merz, had to be signed in Kensington and then discussed shortly after at a press conference in Stevenage. They'd chosen the symbolic venue of the V&A Museum for the signing itself, V being for Victoria, who was British, and A being for Albert, who was German. That blissfully happy, Anglo-German union was only partially undermined when their grandchildren declared war on one another in 1914. Merz, unlike Starmer, has a troubling knack, rare among politicians, for using words to describe things the way they are. In that sense, the Starmer-Macron press conference made for a slightly toe-curling double act. 'We have signed the Kensington Treaty,' beamed Starmer, 'the first-ever major bilateral treaty between Britain and Germany.' For some reason, the 1890 Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, in which the UK gained control of Zanzibar in return for the Caprivi Strip in present-day Namibia, didn't get a mention, which was harsh. It was the 40th anniversary of Live Aid over the weekend, and we got Zanzibar's most famous son Freddie Mercury out of that one. If it weren't for the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty of 1890, we'd all be singing Bohemian Rhapsody in German. Starmer knows there's a reason it's the 'first-ever major bilateral treaty between the UK and Germany'. For decades, European countries have done multilateral treaties, via something called the European Union, which can no longer be discussed. Except if you're Chancellor Merz. 'I personally deplore, deeply, the UK's decision to leave the European Union,' he said. At this point, for those watching at home, the left of the screen froze completely for at least 20 seconds. Not a pixel of Starmer's face, now in an agonised grimace, shifted. On the right side the chancellor simply carried on. The reason they'd come to Stevenage was to visit the UK home of Airbus, a highly collaborative, pan-European success story. Starmer warmed up the small crowd with news that the Kensington Treaty would allow a small number of business-class passengers to possibly use the e-passport gates at a small number of European airports. 'I know that's very popular round here!' he said, the smile back again. Not through any great fault of his own, Starmer now has a proud track record of deals that return things to being not quite as good as before. His 'US trade deal' ameliorates a small amount of the harm done by Trump's tariffs. It's possible that 16 and 17-year-old voters may be aware that voters of any age, in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and everywhere else, can enter each other's countries without using passport gates at all. The next thing Starmer announced was a plan for 'a direct rail link between London and Berlin!' It's arguable there are better places to announce that kind of thing than an aeroplane factory. The main point Merz wanted to make was that, in his words, 'The E3, Britain, France and Germany are converging on economic issues.' Starmer froze again. The same thing happened last week, when President Macron was in town and warned there must be 'no further divergence'. Convergence, divergence, don't they know these words are highly triggering here? They're the sort of thing that get Nigel Farage elected, and not even an army of sixth-formers can help.
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Pregnant woman survives stabbing by father-in-law in Stevenage
A pregnant woman has described being stabbed by her father-in-law in an unprovoked attack at her place of work as "mind-blowing".Sasha Field, 38, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was stabbed in her wrist and her chest by Bryan Field in February of Albion Road in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, also stabbed a man during the attack in an office building of a scaffolding firm in Todds Green, who was looking for his estranged wife at the time, has been jailed for 26 years for the attempted murder of the man, six years for wounding with intent against his daughter-in-law and 20 months for possession of a bladed article. Ms Field, who was 20-weeks pregnant at the time, said she happened to borrow her mother-in-law's car to go to Field saw it outside the office he mistakenly believed his wife, who had just filed for divorce, was in the building."All of a sudden the door burst open and Bryan is standing there with a black bin bag," Ms Field asked where his wife was and began throwing out her belongings from the bag onto the then lunged "towards my employee, punching him and now I know he was stabbing him".She added: "The knife was in the bag but concealed in cloth the police said."He accused Ms Field of being the reason why his wife had left him and "then he made a strike towards to what I thought was my face," she said."I put my arm up in defence and the knife went through my wrist and then into my left nipple.""He then pushed me to the ground and kicked me and stamped on my head as he didn't have the knife anymore as it had broken in two."She said: "I am in no doubt that had that knife not broken he would have stabbed me to death.""He definitely could have murdered his own grandson," she added. Ms Field said she did not realise she had been stabbed until she was in the ambulance said: "I did not think about myself - I just kept thinking of the baby."Her baby son, Cole, is now doing described the attack as "mind-blowing" as she had never had an argument with Field, who "was out that day to hurt somebody and when he realised his wife was not there he took it out on me". Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- BBC News
Man hunting wife is jailed for double stabbing in Stevenage
A "dangerous" man who stabbed two people in an act of "extreme" violence while searching for his estranged wife has been jailed for 26 years. Hertfordshire Police said Bryan Field, 64, entered an office building near Stevenage in February 2024 and launched an attack on two people with a large kitchen of Albion Road in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was convicted of attempted murder, wounding with intent and being in possession of a knife in a public place. He was given an indefinite restraining order banning him from contacting his praised the bravery of the "two innocent members of the public" who were hurt. Field was found guilty following a two-week trial in March at Peterborough Crown Court. He has now been given a 26-year sentence for the attempted murder of the man, six years for wounding with intent against the woman and 20 months for possession of a bladed the sentences are to run concurrently, the court confirmed. Police said on 11 February 2024, a car belonging to Field's wife was parked near the office at Shangri-La Farm in Todds Green, Stevenage, where she she was inside, he entered the building armed with a knife concealed in a black plastic said she was not inside, but two people were subsequently attacked.A stab wound to the man's thigh narrowly missed his femoral artery, and Field also attempted to stab him in the neck.A woman was stabbed in the arm with such force the knife's blade broke off, police added. Field was arrested shortly afterwards in a car near Luton. Det Sgt Ian Smith said Field had been "proven to be a dangerous individual". "Two innocent members of the public were attacked during this appalling incident which saw Field display extreme acts of violence," he said."We thank them both for their support and bravery during this investigation."Knife crime and violence is not welcome in Hertfordshire, and we will do all we can to bring offenders to justice", he added. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Barnet bring in free-agent defender Smith
Barnet have signed former Stevenage wing-back Kane Smith on a free 29-year-old spent the past three seasons with Boro, making 67 appearances and scoring one goal. He was part of the side that won promotion to League One in 2022-23 after joining following five years with Boreham Wood."Kane is a player I've admired from afar for a long time, constantly on my list as a manager," Barnet boss Dean Brennan told the club website. "He gives us lots of quality, a fantastic crosser of the ball, and a great enthusiasm and understanding of the game."He gives us competition in the wing-back areas so we're delighted he's decided to join us."
