Extreme ironing, extreme weather and voting...

Good Monday,

Large parts of England were thrown into road rage and traffic turmoil, when one of our biggest motorways closed down today, stuffing up the lives of countless motorists and Easter holidaymakers across the country. The M1 was shut on Friday due to a fire, and sections of it could remain so until the middle of this week. Looking for the interesting part of this news story? Here it is. One man today took the opportunity, in the name of his ‘extreme ironing’ website, to set himself up on the empty tarmac and iron a shirt in his dressing gown. Nutty and charming in equal measure – you can see him in action here.

Britain is gearing up for a referendum on our system of voting. At the moment, we have a ‘first pass the post’ system in place for elections. So voters are asked to pick an MP for their constituency, and the MP with the most votes will win and take charge. The ‘AV’ (Alternative Voting) system proposes that voters should be able to rank their choices in order of how much they approve of various parties. So instead of saying “I want Labour,” even though you might be a bit torn you can say “I want Labour, but if they don’t do very well, then use my next vote for Conservatives. And if they flop, then I guess use it for the Lib Dems.” The theory is that everyone gets more of a detailed say in what they want, and the results are more reflective of the majority. Cameron says this will overcomplicate things. Clegg insists it will simplify them. It's up to you and I to decide.

In other voting news, a nationalist party in Finland has won almost 20% of the public’s affection in their general election. The ‘True Finns’ are known for being massively opposed to EU bailouts – and, now that they will have a say on European policy, it could mean changes to the current scheme.

France has thrown a big strop at Italy for opening its gates to North African immigrants, and granting them temporary residency visas. It means these immigrants will have free reign to move onto other EU countries – but France isn’t standing for it. They’ve halted all incoming Italian trains at their border while they figure out their next move.

Meteorological mayhem has struck the planet again, with storms and tornados tearing through Southern states in America. 45 are dead and millions have been left homeless.

Finally, elsewhere in the US, two British tourists have been shot dead in Florida – apparently the victims of a botched robbery. A mere 16 year old has been arrested for the murder of the men, who were in their 20’s.

See you tomorrow…