News Headlines - 06 May 2011

▽Bitter blow for Lib Dems after AV referendum defeat - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/may/06/nick-clegg-av-lib-dems
Nick Clegg said his party had suffered a "bitter blow" as Britain rejected AV in the nationwide referendum on the voting system.
The Liberal Democrats were left reeling on a day that also saw hundreds of Lib Dem seats wiped out in English local elections, as well as suffering a heavy defeat in the Scottish parliamentary election, where they ended up with just five MSPs.

▽Results place strain on coalition - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13319416
The Conservatives managed to make significant gains - with their coalition partners apparently bearing the brunt of public anger over spending cuts at English local elections.
In Scotland the SNP scored an historic victory in the Scottish Parliament poll, whilst Labour made significant gains in town halls in the north of England and in the Welsh assembly elections.

▽What now for Cameron, Miliband and Clegg? - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13318008
The prime minister and Conservative leader has managed to win seats while cutting public spending, something few pundits expected.

▽7/7 inquest verdict: Emergency services cleared but MI5 under fire - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/06/7-july-inquest-verdict-mi5
None of the 52 people who died in the 7 July terrorist attacks could have been saved even if help from the emergency services had arrived earlier, an inquest into their deaths has ruled.
But confusion in MI5's system of assessing terrorist suspects and questions over the security services' record-keeping continued to cause concern almost six years after 7/7 attacks, the coroner said.

▽7/7 inquest: We still have no real answers, say the victims' relatives - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/06/7-july-inquest-verdict-no-real-answers
Families of the victims of the 7 July attacks have called on the government to overhaul Britain's security services after the inquest coroner yesterday described their handling of a critical piece of intelligence as "dreadful" and suggested another failure could have had "dire consequences".