April / 2015 Issue 20 European Referendum: Will we stay or will we go?
European Referendum The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, has decided to have a referendum on the 23rd June 2016. A referendum is a vote on a special issue. David Cameron wants the UK to stay in the EU and described the vote as one of the biggest decisions in our lifetimes. A referendum is held to help the Government make very important decisions. In this referendum UK voters will be asked if they want to "remain in" or "leave" the European Union (EU). Financial Times/Flickr Other politicians, like Boris Johnson, want the UK to leave the EU. The EU is made up of 28 European countries that share rules and do business with each other. Politicians are talking about what they want to happen with the EU. However, having a referendum means it is up to the British people to decide by voting. David Cameron has talked with all the other EU leaders to try and change some of the rules before the referendum vote. SPECIAL ISSUE May 2016 April / 2015 Special Issue EU Referendum Vote www.unitedresponse.org.uk We will be making an Special to help you decide if you want to remain in or leave the EU. It will be on the United Response website in early May. 2 3
More homeless people in the UK The number of homeless people in the UK has gone up. They say one reason is the cuts to benefits that people receive. This means that sometimes they cannot afford to buy or rent a home. 7,500 A Government report says that in London the number of people without a home has gone up from 3,673 to 7,500 in 6 years. Another reason is that there are not enough houses for people. There are more people living in the UK and there are not enough houses for them. 2,744 The report also says that in 2014, 2,744 people slept on the street each night in the UK. Also, a lot of people from Europe come to the UK looking for jobs. Many of these people cannot find work and then live on the streets. Crisis, a charity for homeless people, says that there are many reasons for this. Boris Johnson, who is currently the Mayor of London, wants to build more hostels. Homeless people can sleep in hostels overnight. Financial Times/Flickr 4 5
Choosing the next American President iconeer/istockphoto The people of the United States of America (USA) will vote for a new President on 8th November 2016. The new President will start work in January 2017. Matt York/AP/Press Association Images Hillary Clinton is leading in the race for the Democratic party vote. She is married to former President, Bill Clinton. The USA has 2 political parties. They are called "Republican" and "Democratic". All 50 states of the USA vote for a person from each party. Matt Johnson, Marc Nozell and Edward Kimmel/Flickr Other people have been trying to win votes but many have given up. chokkicx and Rich Seymour/istockphoto The vote is called the "Primary Race". The race to be the person chosen to try and be the next President started in February. The winners of the Primary Race will be selected in July after all of the USA has voted. Famous billionaire, Donald Trump, is leading in the race for the Republican party vote. The winners of the votes will then try to be the next President. Gage Skidmore/Flickr iconeer/istockphoto 6 7
Terrorist attack in Brussels 3 x Bigandt_Photography - istockphoto On 22 March 2016 in Brussels, 3 explosions killed 32 people and injured more than 300 people. Johnrob/istockphoto All 3 explosions were caused by suicide bombers wearing explosive vests. A suicide bomber is a person who carries out a bomb attack knowing that they will be killed in the explosion. © Elena Elisseeva/istockphoto At 7.58am an explosion went off in the check-in hall of Zaventem Airport, Brussels. (Inset) David Bro/Zuma Press/PA Images Roberto Maldino/Flickr The 3 explosions took place 4 days after the police in Brussels arrested a man called Salah Abdeslam. He is suspected of taking part in the Paris attacks in November, when 130 people were killed. Benoit Doppagne / AP/Press Association Images As the people tried to escape the airport, a 2nd bomb went off near the exit. The terrorist group called ISIS, say that they carried out both the attacks in Paris and Brussels. Motographer At around 8am, the 3rd explosion went off in the metro in Brussels city centre. The police have arrested over 9 people in Belgium, 3 in France and 2 in Germany. They are still looking for another 2 people who took part in the Brussels attacks. Bosca78/istockphoto 8 9
Russian Forces leave Syria Global Panorama/Flickr In March 2016, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, announced that Russian Forces will leave Syria. Rob Pinney/Demotix/Press Association Images President Assad s Government has been blamed by the United Nations human rights group for killing innocent people. President Assad says that this isn t true. Russian Forces have been in Syria since September 2015. The Russians said they were in Syria to fight terrorists. Human rights groups also say that the Russians have killed 1,733 people, including 429 children. Russia says they have not. Thorsten Strasas/Demotix/PA Images Oleg Zabielin istock But human rights groups say that Russia have not only killed terrorists. They say that Russian forces have also killed rebels who are against the Syrian Government. President Putin says that Russia is leaving because their mission is finished. Global Panorama/Flickr Salah Malkawi/EdStock2 Russia supports the Syrian Government, which is led by President Bashar al-assad. AP/Press Association Images However, Russia says that they will keep on doing air strikes. This means that planes from Russia will continue to drop bombs on Syria. 10 11
Budget 2016 HM Treasury/Flickr George Osborne is the UK s Chancellor. The Chancellor is in charge of how the Government spends its money. There have been no changes to tax on fuel for cars or cider, beer, and spirits like whiskey. Tax will increase on wine and cigarettes. On the 16th March 2016, the Chancellor gave a speech about how he plans to use the country s money. This is called the Budget speech. 42,385 The Chancellor announced that people will not have to pay the higher level of tax of 40% until they earn over 42,385 a year. Small companies will not have to pay as much business tax. Drinks that contain lots of sugar will be taxed starting in April 2018. The new Sugar Tax will not be put on pure fruit juice and milk. Money raised by the new tax will go to fund sport in primary schools. Dan Kitwood/EdStock Government Minister, Iain Duncan Smith, left his job after the Budget. He said he was not happy about the cuts to disability benefits. Press Association Images Academies By 2020, all schools in England will become Academies. This means they will not be controlled or get money from the local council. Stephen Crabb is the new Minister and he said that he will not cut disability benefits anymore. 12 13
Quick News Queen s 90th Birthday Celebrations Leonardo DiCaprio wins Oscar 90 On the 21st, the Queen celebrated her 90th birthday. There will be events and street parties in April and May. After being recommended to win an Oscar 4 times before, Leonardo DiCaprio has won his 1st Oscar. Admedia, Inc/SIPA USA/PA Images The Clean for the Queen" campaign is asking people across the UK to pick up litter in towns and villages as part of the Queen s birthday celebrations. Rebecca Blackwell/Press Association Images The 41 year old actor won the Best Actor Oscar for the film called The Revenant. 1st disabled Lego figure Famous people sadly die PA Wire/Press Association Imagess Lego have made a disabled mini-figure. Andrew Hall/Flickr The popular entertainer Ronnie Corbett has died aged 85. He was most famous for working with Ronnie Barker on the comedy sketch show 'The Two Ronnies' A campaign asked Lego to show a range of disabilities in their figures. This new figure has made lots of people very happy. The music producer George Martin has died. He helped the Beatles record their albums in the 1960s. Sue Moore/EMPICS Entertainment 14 15
English man wins golf tournament Vincent Thian/Press Association Images On Sunday 10th April, Danny Willett won the 2016 Masters golf tournament in Augusta. He won $1.8 million dollars and a green jacket. Danny, aged 28, is the 2nd English man to win the golf tournament. 20 years ago, in 1996, Nick Faldo was the last English man to win. David J. Phillip/Press Association Images Dan Perry / Flickr The Masters tournament is held every year in Augusta, Georgia, in the United States of America (USA). It is one of the biggest competitions in the world of professional golf. 16 Contact us 020 8246 5200 info@unitedresponse.org.uk www.unitedresponse.org.uk www.facebook.com/unitedresponse www.twitter.com/unitedresponse www.unitedresponse.org.uk/blog Cover photo Andrew Linscott / istockphoto Translated into Easy Read by UR Consultants, mailed by UR Sorted and produced by United Response. Registered charity no. 265249, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England no. 1133776. With thanks to Kaliya Franklin and Photosymbols. Care has been taken to present this information factually. Content does not necessarily reflect the views of United Response. Want more? Subscribe online at www.unitedresponse.org.uk/easynews