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Last Howard Hodgkin painting on show in new National Portrait Gallery exhibition
Sir Howard Hodgkin's last major painting – a large and “extraordinary” self-portrait – is going on display for the first time at the National Portrait Gallery. The celebrated British painter died earlier this month at the age of 84, as the gallery was preparing for the first exhibition of his portraits. He painted Portrait Of The Artist Listening To Music, completing the “deeply personal” work just before his death, for the new exhibition. Curators said the oil-on-wood painting memorialises the “act of remembering” in paint.
Sir Howard, who was renowned for his abstract works and for painting from memory rather than direct observation, worked on the image while listening to recordings of two pieces of his favourite music continuously, associated with earlier times in his life. They were Jerome Kern's The Last Time I Saw Paris, published in 1940, and the zither music from the 1949 film The Third Man, composed and performed by Anton Karas. Opening on Thursday, Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends is the first exhibition devoted to the portraits of the great British painter.
Nobel prize winning scientists warns nothing in Brexit will help universities
No part of Brexit will help universities, a Nobel Prize winning scientist has said the week before article 50 is due to be triggered. "There is a real risk the country's reputation as a destination open to the best scientific minds could be damaged during negotiations over leaving the EU" Sir Paul Nurse said. The former president of the Royal Society, who responded to the Brexit vote by saying it would be “bad for Britain”, was no more optimistic about potential opportunities with the country a week away from formally starting the EU divorce process. The leading geneticist and cell biologist was speaking ahead of being sworn in as the new ceremonial head of Bristol University, and said he was delighted to become chancellor.
Sir Paul told the Press Association: “I don't think there's anything in Brexit that helps universities, either in teaching or research, but we are where we are ... we have to make the best of it. Our research colleagues in the EU are certainly very concerned if the UK in any way finds it more difficult to interact and work with them. But it is difficult because the new political circumstances will not make it so easy to collaborate, to establish networks and to do all the things we in higher education want to pursue.” He added that scientists must be prepared for a hard political fight to ensure the redistribution of any EU money made available through exiting the union from other budgets into science.
Alistair Campbell named editor-at-large of The New European
Tony Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell has been appointed editor-at-large of the New European newspaper. Mr Campbell will help shape editorial policy at the weekly title, which is aimed at the 48 per cent of Britons who voted to stay in the European Union. He vowed to use the platform to target the “Brextremist lie machine” and Theresa May's plans for withdrawal from the bloc. Mr Campbell, who was a senior journalist before becoming the former prime minister's communications chief, has contributed to the newspaper since its launch after the EU referendum result last year.
He said: “The New European has been one of the few good things to emerge from the EU referendum. I have done my bit to help the paper get off the ground, and now I intend to do a lot more to show that the Brextremist lie machine can be defeated, and the real national interest pursued, as opposed to the disastrous hard Brexit route Mrs May has chosen.” He added that he believed the UK “can, must and will change its mind about the decision taken last year”. Mr Campbell's new job follows the announcement that former chancellor George Osborne will edit the London Evening Standard.
Nuclear weapons workers stage strike over pensions row
Workers at the Atomic Weapons Establishment are staging the first of a series of new strikes on Thursday in a long-running dispute over pensions. Members of Unite at sites in Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire are due to take seven days of action in the coming weeks in protest at the closure of their final salary pension scheme. The union said workers were angry “copper-bottomed” pledges made by the Conservative government in the 1990s about the future of pensions once they transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the private sector, had been broken. Unite regional officer Bob Middleton said: “Our members feel betrayed and badly let down by what has happened to their pensions, they don't deserve to lose thousands of pounds when they retire.
“Until a settlement is reached that is acceptable to our members, the seven further days of strike action remain in place. The essence of this dispute is that governments should honour the pledges they make to MPs and groups of workers. Ministerial promises are not something to be lightly discarded for the benefit of corporate profit.” Talks are due to be held next week.
Teachers vote to form new super union for education workers
Teachers have voted to merge two unions to form a new super union for education workers. Members of
the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers backed the link up by more than 2-1. The National Education Union will be formed later in the year, representing 450,000 teachers and other education workers.
It will be the biggest union in Europe for teachers and education professionals and the fourth biggest union in the UK. Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, said it was a “historic” moment. Ms Bousted said the new union will be the biggest in most schools, bringing together teachers, lecturers and managers. She added: “We will be able to do so much more working together.” NUT leader Kevin Courtney said: “For too long, governments have played divide and rule among education unions. Today marks the beginning of the end of that. “The National Education Union will be a game-changer in the education landscape.”