300 miles, so the question now is can we nurse it around.”
The pair will first head to Scotland, then westbound to countries including the US, Canada, Japan, Russia
and India and back to Britain with a single-seated Mk IX Spitfire originally built in 1943, followed by a chase
plane for safety.
Heathrow strike suspended as workers vote on pay deal
Today’s walkout by Heathrow airport staff has been suspended to allow workers to vote on an improved pay
deal, the union Unite announced yesterday. The strike would have seen more than 4,000 Heathrow
workers, including security officers, firefighters and engineers, walk out from one minute past midnight for
24 hours. Further strikes at Heathrow are still planned for Friday 23 and Saturday 24 August, the beginning
of the busy August bank holiday travel weekend.
Unite said it would not reveal the details of the pay offer until its members had the chance to consider and
vote on the package.
A handful of today’s flights were already cancelled, including on Aeroflot from and to Moscow; LOT Polish
Airlines from and to Warsaw; on Alitalia to Milan; Brussels Airlines to Brussels; Eurowings to Berlin and
Hamburg; and two Flybe services to Edinburgh. A total of 46 flights in and out of Heathrow yesterday were
grounded, or moved to Gatwick.
Smoke-filled BA cabin forces emergency evacuation
Passengers on a British Airways flight had to make an emergency departure from the aircraft after smoke
filled the cabin 10 minutes before it landed in Spain. Passengers were forced to leave the plane by the
emergency slides after arriving at Valencia Airport yesterday evening.
Three people were treated for smoke inhalation and another 12 were treated for minor injuries they
received when they slid down inflatable emergency slides, according to local government officials in
Valencia.
A spokesman for the BA said: “We can confirm that British Airways flight BA422 from Heathrow to
Valencia has been involved in an incident today. The aircraft, an A321, has landed and all customers and
crew have disembarked. British Airways teams are assisting customers who are in the airport terminal.”
Snow and Farage cleared by Ofcom over Brexit rally remarks
Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow did not breach TV rules by saying he had “never seen so many white
people in one place”, the regulator has ruled, nor did Nigel Farage transgress with a follow-up comment on
his LBC radio show. Snow’s comment, referring to pro-Brexit protesters who gathered in Westminster on
the day the UK was meant to leave the EU, sparked more than 2,600 complaints that it was racist and
offensive. He had told viewers: “It has been the most extraordinary day. A day which has seen – I’ve never
seen so many white people in one place. It’s an extraordinary story.”
Farage said Snow “should be attacked ... because of his terrible condescending bias”. He later clarified in the
programme that he meant a verbal attack, not a physical one, saying: “Verbally, verbally attacked for his
disgraceful coverage of the Leave rally.” Ofcom received seven complaints about the remark on LBC
97.3FM.
An Ofcom spokeswoman said in reference to both broadcasts: “We recognise that comments made by the