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Republican veteran dies after long illness
The senior republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey has died, Sinn Fein has announced. Mr Storey, from west Belfast, was a highly influential presence within the republican movement throughout the Troubles and subsequent peace process.
The former Sinn Fein chairman was aged in his mid 60s and had been unwell for a period of time. Party president Mary Lou McDonald said: “It was with deep sadness that I learned today of the death of Bobby Storey. Bobby was a lifelong and very deeply committed Irish Republican whose passing will be received with great sadness by republicans throughout Ireland.”
Mr Storey spent more than 20 years in prison during the Troubles. He was sentenced to 18 years for possession of a rifle in 1981 and also spent several periods behind bars remanded on other charges. As a teenager, he had been interned without charge.
Congestion charge rise starts today
A 30 per cent rise in London’s congestion charge and extension in its hours of operation come into force today. Transport for London (TfL) said the temporary measures are being introduced under the terms of its £1.6bn bailout by the government. The daily fee for driving a car into the centre of the capital will rise from £11.50 to £15.
Charges were previously enforced on weekdays between 7am and 6pm, but will be extended to between 7am and 10pm, seven days a week. TfL says car traffic in the charging zone is already back to precoronavirus pandemic levels, and roads will become “unusably congested” if no action is taken as lockdown restrictions are eased further.
Chicken plant closes as 158 staff test positive
More than 150 employees at a chicken plant in Anglesey, north Wales, have tested positive for coronavirus. The 2 Sisters poultry processing factory, which has contracts with thousands of UK supermarkets, announced that it would be temporarily suspending production at its Llangefni site for two weeks. It said the decision was made following guidance from Public Health Wales (PHW), Anglesey Council, the Health & Safety Executive, FSA and the Unite union: “The health, safety and well-being of our colleagues is ultimately the thing that matters most at our business.”
Actor Simon Pegg reveals alcoholism ‘private hell’
Simon Pegg has opened up about his struggles with depression and alcoholism, calling addiction a “very private hell”. The actor, writer and longtime collaborator of Nick Frost has had depression since the age of 18. In his late 30s – when he worked on 14 films including Mission: Impossible III and Hot Fuzz – he developed an addiction to alcohol. “I think Nick knew, but he didn’t want to admit it because it was too scary,” Pegg said of Frost in a new interview with The Sunday Times. “But it’s a very private hell that you’re in. You’re trying to look OK to other people. You’re creating this reality that you’re not unwell, and you’re trying to believe that, whereas really you’re clearly not well and you’re very sad, and drinking, or whatever you’re doing, to try and change how you feel. It’s a strange kind of split personality that you have.”