A failing health trust has been placed in special measures, meaning all Cumbria hospital trusts are now getting extra help to boost performance.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust was rated as inadequate in an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It said the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital in Barrow needed to improve the quality of care.
The trust said it was "part-way through a process of significant improvement".
Last year, a separate trust covering the north of the county, North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust, was one of 11 put into special measures after the Keogh review found higher-than-expected mortality rates.
The CQC inspection took place in February and while inspectors said care in services such as maternity and A&E had improved since previous checks, they added other areas of concern had not been addressed.
Medical care in one part of the Royal Lancaster was said to be "of particular concern".
The overall recruitment of nurses and doctors was identified as a "fundamental" worry with "too much reliance" on temporary staff.
The chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: "There is a long history of concern with the quality of service provided by the trust, so it is disappointing to report that a number of the issues that have been identified in the past remain unresolved.
"I do not believe that the trust is likely to resolve its challenges without external support."
As well as the hospitals in Barrow and Lancaster, inspectors also visited the Westmorland General Hospital, near Kendal, which was said to be providing a good service overall.
The trust's chief executive, Jackie Daniel said: "The reports reflect the fact we are part-way through a process of significant improvement which is still going to take a number of years to complete.
"It isn't an overnight job to change the culture of a large, complex organisation."
Full reports of the inspection have been published on the CQC website.


Britain's Jodie Stimpson claimed her second victory in two weekends after winning over the shorter sprint distance at the Triathlon World Cup in Australia.

After a strong 750m sea swim in Mooloolaba, Stimpson joined the lead group of 10 women on the bike.
She then made a move early in the 5km run to set up the victory, finishing 17 seconds clear of Australia's Emma Moffatt.
Spain's Mario Mola won the men's race.
Stimpson, who won last weekend's World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi, will battle with Wales' Helen Jenkins for Britain's third Olympic place at the next World Series event on Australia's Gold Coast on 9 April.
"It's great to back to back in Mooloolaba," she said. "It's like a home race - I've spent a lot of time here since 2009. It's a nice feeling to be back here.
"I got second last time I was here to Annie Haug, so it's nice to get the win."


A man has appeared in court accused of the murder of a police officer whose decomposed remains were found in a south London flat.

The body of PC Gordon Semple, 59, was found in a flat at the Peabody Estate, in Southwark Street, on Thursday - a week after he went missing.
Stefano Brizzi, 49, appeared via videolink at Bromley Magistrates' Court. No indication of plea was given.
He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 13 April.
Mr Brizzi is charged with murdering PC Semple at his flat at some time between 1 April and 7 April.
Wearing a grey prison issue tracksuit, he confirmed his name, age and address as he appeared next to a lawyer at Lewisham Police Station.
During the brief hearing, bearded Mr Brizzi told the court: "I'm an Italian citizen but a UK resident."
Following the hearing it emerged police are keen to speak to a man seen at Mr Brizzi's flat on 1 April - he was only there for one minute and did not go inside.
Det Ch Insp Cliff Lyons, who is leading the investigation into PC Semple's death, said: "I am keen to trace a man who went to Brizzi's flat in Southwark Street on Friday, 1 April at about 15:00.
"It is incredibly important that we speak to him."
PC Semple, from Greenhithe, Dartford was originally from Inverness in Scotland.
He had worked in banking before joining the Metropolitan Police.
A post-mortem examination was carried out on 8 April but the cause of death was not determined. A further post mortem has been scheduled for Wednesday.


Lib Dem peer Lord Carlile has been made a CBE in the New Year's Honours list for services to national security.

The barrister was appointed to the role of independent reviewer of terrorism legislation on 11 September 2001 - hours before the US attacks.
Lib Dem MP Bob Russell and Conservative MP Roger Gale were both knighted while Labour's Joan Ruddock becomes a dame.
And Baroness Hayman - the first elected Speaker of the House of Lords - becomes a Dame Grand Cross (GBE).
Thousands of honours are awarded each year - at New Year and the Queen's official birthday in June - to recognise "merit, gallantry and service", with recipients nominated by an individual or organisation, or a government department.
Lord Carlile spent a decade as the government's terrorism legislation reviewer - largely under the previous Labour government - in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks.
The period saw much controversy over terrorism laws - including efforts to extend the time terrorism suspects could be held without charge to 90 days - which resulted in Tony Blair's first Commons defeat as PM.
The 63-year-old QC has warned about the dangers of laws undermining human rights and criticised the increased use of police "stop and search" powers.
But he also supported the government's controversial control orders, which put terrorism suspects under close supervision, and has criticised human rights rulings in Strasbourg which he said had made the UK a "safe haven" for suspected foreign terrorists.
He was replaced in the role by David Anderson at the start of 2011 and has since led an inquiry into child protection at Ealing Abbey in west London.
The peer said the honour was unexpected: "I was never looking for such a thing, but it's nice for one's work to be recognised.
"It was challenging and I had to be conscious every single day that I was independent of the government and independent of any lobbying or special interest group.
"In my view the task was to get it right, even if that involved satisfying nobody. Over the years I've been cited on both sides of most arguments, which satisfies me of the independence I sought to keep."
Three MPs made it onto the list.
Mr Russell becomes a knight in recognition of his public service. The former journalist has been MP for Colchester since 1997, used to be the Essex town's mayor and served as a borough councillor for 31 years.
Former TV producer and director Mr Gale, MP for North Thanet in Kent, was first elected in 1983 and has served on various committees - including home affairs and a former Conservative Party vice chairman.
He has been honoured for public and political services, as has Ms Ruddock, MP for Lewisham Deptford since 1987, who made her name as a CND campaigner, environmentalist and feminist.
And Baroness Hayman was honoured for services to the House of Lords, where she became the first elected speaker in 2006, chairing debates in the upper chamber - a role that was previously carried out by the lord chancellor.
The former Labour minister, now a crossbench peer, is also a former chairwoman of Cancer Research UK and was made a life peer in 1996.


The idea that other universes - as well as our own - lie within "bubbles" of space and time has received a boost.

Studies of the low-temperature glow left from the Big Bang suggest that several of these "bubble universes" may have left marks on our own.
This "multiverse" idea is popular in modern physics, but experimental tests have been hard to come by.
The preliminary work, to be published in Physical Review D, will be firmed up using data from the Planck telescope.
For now, the team has worked with seven years' worth of data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which measures in minute detail the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - the faint glow left from our Universe's formation.
The theory that invokes these bubble universes - a theory formally called "eternal inflation" - holds that such universes are popping into and out of existence and colliding all the time, with the space between them rapidly expanding - meaning that they are forever out of reach of one another.
But Hiranya Peiris, a cosmologist at University College London, and her colleagues have now worked out that when these universes are created adjacent to our own, they may leave a characteristic pattern in the CMB.
"I'd heard about this 'multiverse' for years and years, and I never took it seriously because I thought it's not testable," Dr Peiris told BBC News. "I was just amazed by the idea that you can test for all these other universes out there - it's just mind-blowing."
Dr Peiris' team first proposed these disc-shaped signatures in the CMB in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, and the new work fleshes out the idea, putting numbers to how many bubble universes we may be able to see now.
Crucially, they used a computer program that looked for these discs automatically - reducing the chance that one of the collaborators would see the expected shape in the data when it was not in fact there.
The program found four particular areas that look likely to be signatures of the bubble universes - where the bubbles were 10 times more likely than the standard theory to explain the variations that the team saw in the CMB.
However, Dr Peiris stressed that the four regions were "not at a high statistical significance" - that more data would be needed to be assured of the existence of the "multiverse".
"Finding just four patches is not necessarily going to give you a good probability on the full sky," she explained to BBC News. "That's not statistically strong enough to either rule it out or to say that there is a collision."
Dr Peiris said that data from the Planck telescope - a next-generation space telescope designed to study the CMB with far greater sensitivity - would put the idea on a firmer footing, or refute it. However, the data from Planck cannot be discussed publicly before January 2013.
George Efstathiou, director of the Kavli Institute of Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, called the work "the first serious attempt to search for something like this... from the methodology point of view it's interesting".
He noted that the theories that invoked the multiverse were fraught with problems, because they dealt in so many intangible or immeasurable quantities.
"My own personal view is that it will need new physics to solve this problem," he told BBC News. "But just because there are profound theory difficulties doesn't mean one shouldn't take the picture seriously."
Dr Peiris said that even if these bubble universes were confirmed, we could never learn anything further about them.
"It would be wonderful to be able to go outside our bubble, but it's not going to be possible," she explained.
"They're born close together - that's when the collision happens - and this same inflation happens between the bubbles. They're being hurled apart and space-time is expanding faster than light between them."
But Professor Efstathiou said the search was inherently worth it. He explained: "It would be a pretty amazing thing to show that we have actually made physical contact in another universe. It's a long shot, but it would be very profound for physics."


Whether or not Scotland votes for independence in the referendum in September, there is an attempt taking place to broaden out the economy and ensure it is not over reliant on the oil industry.

Two states in the USA, which have taken very different approaches to the same problem, could offer lessons for Scotland.
Texas suffered badly during the 1980s oil shocks.
Their whole economy was so dependent on the industry that falls in oil prices gave them the wake-up call they needed to do something radical.
They scrapped income tax.
People living here pay no state income tax at all, which is proving an attractive idea.
The plan was to attract companies and workers to grow the economy, and it seems to be working.
Five of the top ten fastest growing cities in the US are in Texas. Around 110 people move to Austin every single day.
In 1981 a quarter of the state's taxes came from the oil and gas industry but by 2012 that figure had dropped to 7%.
However, the oil and gas industry has not been getting smaller. With the fracking revolution it is undergoing a boom.
But other sectors of the economy have been getting comparatively bigger.
More than half the jobs created in the United States in the last seven years have been created in Texas, by companies like HID Global, who make secure ID cards for countries across the world.
The company has just moved its headquarters from California and opened a massive new factory on the outskirts of Austin.
Manager Jason Bohrer said the thought of their workforce not having to pay income tax struck a chord.
"Undoubtedly it's a component as it allows our employees to live at a rate that's difficult in other states that assess a state income tax," he said.
Doing something similar in an independent Scotland could solve the issues around the relatively low numbers in the working age population, and broaden out the economy so that government takes in more taxes from industries other than oil and gas.
However, lowering taxes is not without a cost.
VAT and property taxes, which are seen to disproportionately affect the poor, are higher and the state spends a lot less on public services.
Regina Rogoff runs the People's Community Clinic in Austin, which gets no direct state funding and relies on charitable giving.
"Nobody loves taxes, but people want the roads paved, and they want good schools," she said.
"There's something wrong when fully 25% of our population in Texas is not even in the queue to get healthcare and so that's the challenge we have: how do we make sure that we are not leaving such a high percentage of our population just out in the cold?"
Although it is certainly tough for those with less money to spend on healthcare and education, low taxes are part of the Texan DNA, and so many people are now being drawn in from elsewhere in the United States that neighbouring states are having to follow suit.
If an independent Scotland were to do something similar, it would have a big impact on the rest of the UK too.
On the West coast of America they have taken a very different approach to life beyond oil.
It is surprising to many to think of California's economy being linked to oil at all, but it one of the top four oil producing states in America.
At the peak of the industry in 1985 it was producing one billion barrels a day, but as production dipped the state refocused its efforts on alternative sources of power.
Californians have a lot of pretty obvious reasons be grateful for the sun: beautiful surf, golden beaches and ripening vines.
There is another reason too: they are the world leaders in renewable solar power.
More than 50,000 people are now employed in high skilled jobs in the solar industry, which has become one of the driving forces of the economic recovery.
The state gives a tax rebate to people who install solar panels on their roof, and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses have had panels installed.
The federal government in Washington funds some of the installation costs, but in two years' time that funding will come to an end.
In California, just like in Scotland, they are finding it difficult to have a renewable industry without some kind of government funding.
Brad Heavner, from the California Solar Energy Industries Association said: "We're still dependant on that federal tax credit and if that were to go away tomorrow it would be big trouble for the industry.
"So we have two and half years before that expires to further drive down costs so that we'll be able to survive with that subsidy."
But he added that, thanks to huge amounts of cheap imported solar panels and technical advances, they will be ready to compete.
"We've reached the economy of scale that will allow us to continue to produce cheap solar panels," he told me.
In fact the costs of solar panels have more than halved over the past five years, with tons of cheap solar panels being shipped into San Francisco bay.
The state has also decided that 33% of all the energy has to come from renewables by 2020, which has meant the world's largest solar ranches springing up in California's deserts.
But even though it has been getting cheaper to buy solar technology, it has not been getting cheaper to use electricity.
Prof Severin Borenstein, from the Energy Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, said the state has one of the highest electricity prices in the US.
"Right now there's no question that renewable power costs more than conventional power, if you don't count the environmental costs.
"So as you put more renewable power onto the grid it does drive up the cost. The cheapest places in the country are the places that are burning a lot of coal."
California's mature solar industry shows that renewables can provide a big economic boost and can reach the tipping point of surviving without government funding, which is the long-term goal of Scotland's rapidly growing wind and wave industries.
But if Scotland wants to follow California's lead, a lot of technical developments would be needed.
Scotland's renewable industry is currently subsidised by utility users across the UK.
If that extra funding was to be removed in an independent Scotland, the extra costs of renewable power may well be added onto Scottish bills.


Scotland's busiest airports have returned to normal after a day of disruption caused by an air traffic control failure.

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh said flights were back to schedule by 19:00.
A technical issue had caused delays to flights through all of Scotland's main airports.
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Prestwick airports were affected by the incident at the Scottish Air Traffic Control centre at Prestwick.
Air traffic controllers Nats said there had been interference with some radio frequencies used to talk to aircraft.
The organisation has apologised to passengers and said it was also doing everything it could to safeguard the evening rush hour.
Nats said the faulty piece of equipment had now been removed from service.
All flights at Edinburgh Airport were delayed while three Glasgow Airport flights were cancelled  - one to Gatwick and two to Amsterdam -  and delays were expected throughout the day.
There were also a small number of delays on southbound flights from Aberdeen Airport.
Nats spokesman Paul Haskins told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We've had a technical problem overnight with interference with some of our radio frequencies which we use to speak to aircraft.
"It only affects some parts of Scottish airspace and flights from and to some Scottish airports but there may be delays as a result this morning.
"We have identified the cause and isolated the problem and the situation is now improving."
Transport minister Derek Mackay said: "There was a technical issue that has been rectified and addressed, however there are knock-on consequences to the airlines.
"People should check with their airlines and the airports to ensure that their flights are running."


Northern Ireland has a weak profile when it comes to learning foreign languages and needs to give this a much higher priority, a report suggests.

A British Council study warns NI is "a long way from being self-sufficient in producing linguists in languages likely to be needed" by its businesses.
The report pointed to the lack of linguists in Asian languages and a wider range of European languages.
It said there was little language provision on vocational courses.
This is in common with the rest of the United Kingdom.
It said that both Queen's University, Belfast and the University of Ulster offer languages in combination with other specialisms, as well as degree courses in the foreign languages taught in schools.
"However, Queen's University Belfast closed its German department in 2009, reflecting the squeeze on languages in higher education which is being felt across the UK," the report points out.
The British Council's Language Rich Europe report examined how different European countries approached the teaching and use of regional, minority and foreign languages.
In Northern Ireland, researchers found that the situation as regards modern foreign languages in secondary schools in Northern Ireland has deteriorated rapidly since languages were made optional after the first three years of secondary education as part of the 2007 curriculum reform.
This resulted in a 19% drop in numbers sitting GCSE examinations over three years with French, as the first foreign language taught, being the worst hit.
Spanish is now the second most widely taught modern language and is managing to maintain numbers. However, German also suffered declines. At lower secondary level, however, many schools require pupils to study two languages.
At ages 16-18, the numbers studying languages have remained steadier but have declined as a proportion of the cohort. The pattern is that French is declining significantly; German, from a smaller base, less so; Spanish is still gaining numbers; and Irish is maintaining equilibrium.
Jonathan Stewart, deputy director of the British Council in Northern Ireland , said  the report's findings suggest that language skills would support the Northern Irish economy in facing challenges ranging from increasing exports to promoting tourism and inward investment.
"The findings complement the recent ICM Research (2011) undertaken on behalf of Think Global and the British Council with UK employers," he said.
"The study was commissioned to gauge the extent to which business leaders see global thinking as an important skill amongst employees and potential recruits to their companies.
"This study found that three-quarters of businesses think we are in danger of being left behind by emerging countries unless young people learn to think more globally, and are worried that many young people's horizons are not broad enough to operate in a globalised and multicultural economy."
The Confederation of British Industry has said that recent studies have shown that nearly three quarters of businesses say they value foreign langue skills among staff while one in five is concerned that weakness if foreign language proficiency is losing them business.
Kirsty McManus, the Assistant Regional Director of CBI Northern Ireland believes the survey gives an accurate assessment of the situation in Northern Ireland.
"CBI believes that strong export performance will be crucial in driving economic recovery and companies will need many more people with strong language skills to help them enter new markets in the future," she said.


A man has been arrested in connection with an attack on Manchester United's team bus outside West Ham's Boleyn Ground.

The suspect, 28, handed himself in at an east London Police station on Friday, the Met said.
He arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and was bailed until mid-August.
Images of three men still wanted over Tuesday's attack were released by the force.
Bottles and other objects were thrown at the coach as it got stuck in traffic en route to the stadium.
The disorder left four policemen injured and West Ham said it would ban for life any fan found responsible.
Two men, aged 18 and 47, who were arrested for pitch incursion have been bailed to return on a date in late May.
A 20-year-old man who was arrested for throwing bottles at police officers has been bailed to return on a date in August.


A gun used to shoot dead unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin is to be auctioned by the man who shot him, George Zimmerman.

Mr Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watchman, was cleared over the death of the 17-year-old in February 2012 after saying he acted in self-defence.
He said he was selling the gun partly to raise funds to fight "Hillary Clinton's anti-firearm rhetoric".
The Martin family would not "comment on the actions of that person", they said.
"The Trayvon Martin Foundation is committed to its mission of ending senseless gun violence in the United States," his family said in a statement to media in Florida.
"This election season, we are laser focused on furthering that mission."
When asked by Florida television channel WOFL what he would say to people opposed to the sale, Mr Zimmerman said: "They're not going to be bidding on it, so I couldn't care less about them.''
Few cases in recent years have been more racially sensitive or led to such an anguished national conversation as the killing of Trayvon Martin. It sparked demonstrations around the country, prompted President Obama to remark that if he had a son, he'd have looked like the black teenager and brought about the first use on social media of the hashtag "Black Lives Matter."
So the decision of the former neighbourhood watchman, George Zimmerman to put the gun he used up for auction not only seems extraordinary but also cruel and callous - especially since he refers to the weapon on the online site as an "American icon."
This is not the first time that Zimmerman has sought to cash in on his notoriety. His first painting of an American flag, emblazoned with the words "God One Nation with Liberty and Justice For All," sold on eBay for the staggering sum of $100,000. But it did not impress critics, who called it "primitive" and "appalling."
Harsher language will no doubt be used to describe the sale of the pistol that killed Trayvon Martin.
The one-day online auction opens at 11:00 EDT (15:00 GMT) on Thursday. The opening bidding price for the 9mm pistol is set at $5,000 (Â£3,464).
On the auction site, Mr Zimmerman refers to the gun as an "American icon", and says it was recently returned to him by the US Department of Justice.
Florida police did not arrest Mr Zimmerman for six weeks after the shooting in Sanford, Florida, provoking mass rallies in Florida and throughout the US.
Police justified their decision not to detain him by citing the state's controversial "stand your ground" law, which allows a citizen to use lethal force if he or she feels in imminent danger. Police initially said the law prevented them from bringing charges.
Profiles: Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman
Mr Zimmerman's defence said Trayvon Martin had punched their client, slammed his head into the pavement and reached for Mr Zimmerman's gun. Prosecutors accused Mr Zimmerman of telling a number of lies.
The case led to protests in several cities in the US and to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mr Zimmerman has generated headlines several times since his closely watched trial.
He was arrested and charged with domestic aggravated assault against his girlfriend in 2013 and 2015 but both times the charges were dropped.
In 2015 he was involved in a road rage incident in which a motorist fired a bullet into Mr Zimmerman's car. He sustained light injuries from flying glass.


Captain America: Civil War has opened the summer with a dominant $181.8m (£125.8m) weekend in the United States - the fifth best of all time.

It is the third Captain America movie in the Marvel franchise.
The movie, which stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson is expected to eclipse 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier at $259m (£179.2m) by the end of next weekend.
It includes a much-publicised fight between Captain America and Iron Man.
Plus there are introductions of new characters in Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther and Tom Holland's Spider-Man.
Its opening record trails Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which opened at $248m (£172m), Jurassic World at $208.8m (£145m), Marvel's The Avengers at $207.4m (£144m) and Avengers: Age of Ultron at $191.3m (£132.4m) .
2011's Captain America: The First Avenger opened at $176.6m (£122.2m).
Captain America is also keeping the US box office on track for a record performance in 2016 with $3.856bn (£2.669bn) through this weekend.
Disney has played a major role in that gain with The Jungle Book and Zootopia delivering blockbuster numbers.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens provided $285m (£197m), or 30% of its $936m (£648m) total.


A man who groomed and abused a schoolboy then took him to football matches in a bid to buy his silence has been jailed for seven years.

Vincent Hill, 60, admitted sexually and indecently assaulting the boy at addresses in Paisley, Inchinnan and Erskine, all Renfrewshire.
The abuse began when the boy was aged 12 and lasted from 1998 until 2002.
The High Court in Glasgow heard that Hill was arrested in 2013 after his victim revealed the abuse to his wife.
Jailing him, judge Lady Scott told Hill he had "systematically abused" and "deliberately groomed" his victim.
The judge said the prison term would have been eight years, but for the guilty plea.
The court previously heard that the victim first got to know his abuser in 1997, when Hill worked as a market trader, selling computer games and consoles at a car boot market in Glasgow.
Prosecutor Shirley McKenna told how, in an attempt to keep the boy quiet, Hill would often take the boy to watch his favourite football team, Rangers.
The court also heard that the child lived a "chaotic life" - a factor Hill took advantage of.
Ms McKenna said the abuse had a "profound effect" on the victim, and had led to him attempting suicide and requiring counselling. It was said that this had led to an "impoverished" life.
The court heard Hill later sent a text to the victim claiming he wanted to "cut a deal" and that he would plead "guilty". Hill also claimed he was "sorry" and asked for the man to "forgive" him.


A full list of winners from the 70th Tony Awards.

Winner: The Humans
Eclipsed
The Father
King Charles III
Winner: Hamilton
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Waitress
School of Rock: The Musical
Bright Star
Winner: Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge
Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Blackbird
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Noises Off
Winner: The Color Purple
Fiddler on the Roof
She Loves Me
Spring Awakening
Winner: Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Bright Star - Steve Martin
School of Rock: The Musical - Julian Fellowes
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed - George C Wolfe
Winner: Hamilton - music and lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Bright Star - music: Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, lyrics: Edie Brickell
School of Rock: The Musical - music: Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics: Glenn Slater
Waitress - music and lyrics: Sara Bareilles
Winner: Frank Langella - The Father
Gabriel Byrne - Long Day's Journey Into Night
Jeff Daniels - Blackbird
Tim Pigott-Smith - King Charles III
Mark Strong - Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge
Winner: Jessica Lange - Long Day's Journey Into Night
Laurie Metcalf - Misery
Lupita Nyong'o - Eclipsed
Sophie Okonedo - Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Michelle Williams - Blackbird
Winner: Leslie Odom Jr - Hamilton
Alex Brightman - School of Rock: The Musical
Danny Burstein - Fiddler on the Roof
Zachary Levi - She Loves Me
Lin-Manuel Miranda - Hamilton
Winner: Cynthia Erivo - The Color Purple
Laura Benanti - She Loves Me
Carmen Cusack - Bright Star
Jessie Mueller - Waitress
Phillipa Soo - Hamilton
Winner: Reed Birney - The Humans
Bill Camp - Arthur Miller's The Crucible
David Furr - Noises Off
Richard Goulding - King Charles III
Michael Shannon - Long Day's Journey Into Night
Winner: Jayne Houdyshell - The Humans
Pascale Armand - Eclipsed
Megan Hilty - Noises Off
Andrea Martin - Noises Off
Saycon Sengbloh - Eclipsed
Winner: Daveed Diggs - Hamilton
Brandon Victor Dixon - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Christopher Fitzgerald - Waitress
Jonathan Groff - Hamilton
Christopher Jackson - Hamilton
Winner: Renee Elise Goldsberry - Hamilton
Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple
Jane Krakowski - She Loves Me
Jennifer Simard - Disaster!
Adrienne Warren - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Winner: David Zinn - The Humans
Beowulf Boritt - Therese Raquin
Christopher Oram - Hughie
Jan Versweyveld - Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge
Winner: David Rockwell - She Loves Me
Es Devlin and Finn Ross - American Psycho
David Korins - Hamilton
Santo Loquasto - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Winner: Clint Ramos - Eclipsed
Jane Greenwood - Long Day's Journey Into Night
Michael Krass - Noises Off
Tom Scutt - King Charles III
Winner: Paul Tazewell - Hamilton
Gregg Barnes - Tuck Everlasting
Jeff Mahshie - She Loves Me
Ann Roth - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Winner: Natasha Katz - Long Day's Journey Into Night
Justin Townsend - The Humans
Jan Versweyveld - Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Jan Versweyveld - Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge
Winner: Howell Binkley - Hamilton
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Ben Stanton - Spring Awakening
Justin Townsend - American Psycho
Winner: Ivo Van Hove - Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge
Rupert Goold - King Charles III
Jonathan Kent - Long Day's Journey Into Night
Joe Mantello - The Humans
Liesl Tommy - Eclipsed
Winner: Thomas Kail - Hamilton
Michael Arden - Spring Awakening
John Doyle - The Color Purple
Scott Ellis - She Loves Me
George C Wolfe - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Winner: Andy Blankenbuehler - Hamilton
Savion Glover - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Hofesh Shechter - Fiddler on the Roof
Randy Skinner - Dames at Sea
Sergio Trujillo - On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan
Winner: Alex Lacamoire - Hamilton
August Eriksmoen - Bright Star
Larry Hochman - She Loves Me
Daryl Waters - Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Sheldon Harnick
Marshall W Mason
National Endowment for the Arts
Miles Wilkin
Paper Mill Playhouse; Millburn, NJ
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Seth Gelblum
Joan Lader
Sally Ann Parsons


Efforts to trace £57m-worth of Chinese artefacts stolen from a Cambridge University museum five years ago have proved fruitless, police said.

Thieves broke into the Fitzwilliam Museum on 13 April 2012 and escaped with 18 mainly jade items but since then there has been no trace of them.
Despite the passage of time, the museum remains hopeful of their return.
But an art expert believes the objects have been sold into China and could take generations to resurface.
A number of people were jailed for their roles in the Fitzwilliam robbery and other raids on museums and an auction house across the UK.
While items including a rhino head and Chinese artefacts were retrieved and returned, none of those from the Cambridge museum was ever found.
"Artwork is either recovered very quickly, or the thieves realise what they've got is radioactive, and it goes underground for a generation or more," Christopher Marinello, founder of Art Recovery International, said.
With the Fitzwilliam artefacts registered on a number of art databases including Interpol and Artive, any dealer exercising due diligence would realise the items are stolen "and that's how they might be located", he said.
Because the theft was so widely publicised, Mr Marinello believes the Fitzwilliam jade has "gone underground", most likely traded among criminals, perhaps for drugs or weapons.
While Cambridgeshire Police have confirmed the case is still open, the force is not looking for anyone else in connection with the theft.
The Fitzwilliam remains hopeful its jade will be found and returned, a spokeswoman said.
However, lawyer Mr Marinello, who specialises in recovering stolen artwork for museums, churches, insurance companies and private clients, thinks the museum could be waiting some time.
"I believe the Fitzwilliam jade has made its way to the top market for it in the world - and that's China," he said.
"I think they're in Chinese collections and until someone perhaps dies and the next generation decides to sell, I don't think we'll see them for quite a while."


A 15-year-old girl has died after suffering an adverse reaction from a suspected "legal high," police said.

The girl was found unconscious at about 04:50 BST at Bakers Park in Newton Abbot, Devon, and died at Torbay Hospital. She was not from the area.
Two other girls were also taken to hospital as a precaution.
Police said they were "confident" local people would know who supplied the drugs to the girl and appealed for them to come forward.
Det Supt Ken Lamont said: "With NPS (New Psychoactive Substances) no-one knows what's in them and that's why they are so dangerous.
"Time and time again we hear of people paying the ultimate price for this.
"It's not worth experimenting with your life."
The girl's next of kin have been informed but police have not yet named her.
Investigations are continuing and a cordon is in place at the scene.
Last year Totnes teenager Nathan Wood died after after taking the psychoactive drug N-Bomb.
Police called on parents to "speak to your children about the dangers of drugs and (formerly known as) legal highs".
"They can cause death even if taken just once."


Huddersfield Town midfielder Jonathan Hogg said he feels fortunate to be back playing after fears he had fractured his neck.

Hogg, 28, suffered the injury in a collision with a team-mate in a 4-0 defeat at Bristol City in March and was initially ruled out for the season.
However, after further scans, he was allowed to return for Wednesday's 3-0 win over Norwich.
"It felt worrying - I'd never felt pain like it," he told BBC Radio Leeds.
"I'm a lucky boy to be out there because when the doctors said it was a fracture in my spine I feared the worst.
"I'm so glad I'm able to help the boys out for the rest of the season."
The former Watford man played his part as the Terriers ended a run of successive defeats against the Canaries to go back up to third in the Championship table.
David Wagner's side are nine points off second-placed Brighton with seven games to play - one more than the Seagulls.
Hogg believes Town could still break into the automatic promotion places.
"We're just thinking about the next game. Strange things have happened this season and we are not a million miles off the top two," he added.
"If we can get three points at Nottingham Forest on Saturday it will put real pressure on the top two and pressure can do strange things to people."


The wife and stepson of a Ku Klux Klan leader found shot dead in Missouri have been charged with murder.

The body of Frank Ancona, who called himself an "imperial wizard", was found next to a river on Saturday.
His wife Malissa Ancona, who appealed for his return on Facebook, and stepson Paul Jinkerson Jr were charged with the murder on Monday.
They are also facing charges of tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse.
Police allege Mr Ancona, 51, was shot in his sleep on Thursday at home in Leadwood, Missouri, about 70 miles south of St. Louis.
It is thought his body was then driven about 20 miles and dumped near Belgrade. Mr Ancona was found by a family out fishing on Saturday.
Officers have found evidence of a burn pile near Mr Ancona's vehicle, which was found 30 miles from his body.
Mr Ancona was initially reported missing by his employer, after he failed to turn up for work.
Before his body was found, Mrs Ancona, 44, told officers he was out of the state on a delivery job, and that she planned to file for divorce on his return.
Mr Ancona was a member of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which describes itself as a "White Patriotic Christian organization that bases its roots back to the Ku Klux Klan of the early 20th century".
"Our mission is to preserve our White culture and heritage but also be relevant to the happenings going on in our Republic today," a statement signed by Mr Ancona and published on its website states.
Mr Jinkerson's attorney, Eric Barnhart, said he didn't believe his client was involved in the killing.
Both have been remanded without bail.


Britain's Dan Evans had his best run at a Grand Slam ended by a 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4 6-4 loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last 16 of the Australian Open.

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Evans, ranked 51 in the world, started off promisingly as he traded blows with the Frenchman before winning the opening set on a tie-break.
But Tsonga's heavy hitting and big serving took its toll as the 12th seed won the next three sets.
Tsonga will play 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals.
Evans, who reached his first ATP final this month and beat former US Open champion Marin Cilic and home favourite Bernard Tomic to reach the last 16, survived long enough to be the last remaining Briton in the men's singles after Andy Murray's shock defeat by Mischa Zverev.
"He was just a bit too strong for me," said Evans. "I played pretty well. I was pretty sore.
"He was so physical. To win the first set took too much out of me. There was a long game at the start of the second set where I got broke. It was uphill from there."
Evans had to fend off four break points in the first set, while having only one on the Tsonga serve, before threatening to repeat the shocks of earlier rounds by taking the tie-break.
However, Tsonga heeded the warning and quickly went 4-0 up in the second set as he began to dominate the Briton with his powerful and accurate hitting.
While Evans sporadically threatened the 2008 finalist, and managed 43 winners to Tsonga's 59, the Frenchman was always in control after the first set and won the match with a service game to love.
"Dan played good tennis and he had nothing to lose," said Tsonga.
"It was difficult for me because he was hitting the ball really early. After that the game was pretty difficult, then I went over him and finished strong.
"I've played pretty good since the start of the tournament. It will be a good challenge against Stan Wawrinka - he's playing unbelievably."
Birmingham-born Evans described his exploits at the Australian Open as the best and "most exciting" week of his tennis career.
He now plans to go home before joining up with the Great Britain team for their Davis Cup tie in Canada from 3-5 February.
"I need to maybe get a bit fitter," added Evans. "I think today I was flagging pretty much after the first set. I did feel that.
"My body was sore. Maybe that's something I can improve on a bit.
"But, you know, I've still come a long way from where I was last year."
Leon Smith, Great Britain's Davis Cup captain on BBC Radio 5 live
It was just an amazing run for Dan.  He's played unbelievably well.
Getting two top 10 wins - beating Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic in the space of a week - really tells him where he's at just now in terms of his level, never mind his ranking, what his level could be.
His schedule suddenly looks a lot different to this time last year when he was setting off to Asia for some Challenger matches and now he can get ready for all the Masters Series events.
So it's changed days and exciting times for him.


IBF world champion Lee Selby is confident his next fight will be against new WBA world featherweight champion Carl Frampton.

Selby was ringside in Brooklyn to see Frampton beat champion Leo Santa Cruz on points to win the title.
Frampton wants to defend the title in his home city of Belfast and did not rule out a rematch, although he also has Selby in his sights.
"He's mentioned me a few times, sounds like he wants the fight," Selby said.
"I want the fight and it shouldn't be too difficult to make."
Selby said any possible meeting could be held in Belfast or Cardiff's Principality Stadium.
Barry-born Selby insisted before the fight there was no chance of him meeting British rival Josh Warrington, who beat Patrick Hyland to retain his WBC International featherweight title.
Selby accused Warrington of 'running scared,' after talks fell through over arranging a summer contest at Leeds' Elland Road.
Frampton inflicted the first defeat of 27-year-old Mexican Santa Cruz's career to become the first Northern Ireland fighter to win a world title in two weight divisions.
It was Frampton's first pro bout at featherweight, having moved up a division after unifying the IBF and WBA super-bantamweight titles by beating England's Scott Quigg in Manchester in February.
Selby said he was not surprised by Frampton's majority verdict over Santa Cruz, who has held world titles at three weights.
"I thought it was a brilliant fight and very competitive from the first bell to the last," Selby added.
"Carl Frampton boxed excellent and he surprised me with his tactics. I thought he would box on the back foot and use his range and jab.
"But at times he held his feet, stood in the middle of the ring and went toe to toe and beat Santa Cruz at his own game."


A disjointed Real Madrid saw their winless streak extend to four games as Eibar held them to a draw at home.

The visitors took a shock early lead, Fran Rico taking advantage of sloppy marking to head past Keylor Navas.
Gareth Bale equalised with his 50th La Liga goal shortly after, rising to meet Cristiano Ronaldo's lofted delivery.
Zinedine Zidane made changes in both attack and defence at the interval but his side continued to spurn numerous chances as Eibar held firm.
A win would have restored Real as league leaders but a fourth successive draw in all competitions means they trail Atletico Madrid on goal difference after their city rivals beat Valencia 2-0 away.
With Sergio Ramos rested, the flaws in Real's defence were quickly exploited by the visitors as Rico drifted into the area unchecked to divert Ander Capa's cross beyond Navas' weak attempted save.
In attack, the hosts often resorted to deep crosses from wide positions and although that approach worked in the 17th minute as Ronaldo's ball to the back post was headed in by Bale, it was often too easy for an organised Eibar to repel.
At the break, Zidane removed error-prone central defender Raphael Varane and ineffectual forward Karim Benzema in favour of Nacho and Alvaro Morata, who had a goal rightly disallowed for offside on 54 minutes.
The hosts' muddled thinking was epitomised moments later as Isco inexplicably checked back when clear through on goal and the ball broke to Morata, who tried to round the keeper instead of shooting and was booked for his subsequent dive.
A passive Real badly missed the control and movement of injured midfielders Casemiro and Luka Modric - with the latter also facing a longer spell on the sidelines than first expected after having knee surgery on Sunday.
On an otherwise frustrating day, Bale underlined his importance to Real as he scored his 50th goal in 87 league games for the club.
The Wales international almost put his side ahead on the hour as he produced remarkable power on a stooped header from the edge of area, which beat Eibar keeper Asier Riesgo but rebounded off the inside of the post.
Before Bale's effort, a well-drilled Eibar side also had chances to claim more than a point as Pedro Leon was set free down the right only to rush his attempt, which dribbled into Navas' arms.
And the visitors deserved to survive the final stages as Mauro dos Santos almost headed a corner beyond Riesgo, with Real unable to arrest their recent slump in front of a jeering Bernabeu crowd.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said: "We are not in crisis, we're only in October. What we need to do is improve, we can't lose our minds over this.
"I'm not going to go crazy and neither are my players. All I can see is that we need to work harder and be more intense at the start of games.
"We leave with a bad taste in the mouth. We let our opponents play in the first half and we knew that they could score like that and we didn't deal with it.
"We can't blame fitness issues, we just need to work with more intensity, starting with me. When the players return from international duty we have to turn this around, we can't continue like this."
Match ends, Real Madrid 1, Eibar 1.
Second Half ends, Real Madrid 1, Eibar 1.
Substitution, Eibar. Adrián replaces Pedro León.
Pepe (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Bebé (Eibar).
Offside, Real Madrid. Pepe tries a through ball, but Gareth Bale is caught offside.
Offside, Real Madrid. Mateo Kovacic tries a through ball, but Cristiano Ronaldo is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Bebé (Eibar) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left misses to the left. Assisted by Kike.
Substitution, Eibar. Bebé replaces Rubén Peña.
Corner,  Real Madrid. Conceded by Ander Capa.
Attempt blocked. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is blocked. Assisted by Gareth Bale.
Danilo (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kike (Eibar).
Attempt missed. Marco Asensio (Real Madrid) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Daniel Carvajal with a cross.
Fran Rico (Eibar) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Fran Rico (Eibar).
Foul by Nacho (Real Madrid).
Kike (Eibar) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Mauro Dos Santos (Eibar) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Pedro León with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Eibar. Conceded by Nacho.
Corner,  Real Madrid. Conceded by Antonio Luna.
Attempt saved. Kike (Eibar) right footed shot from long range on the left is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Dani García.
Substitution, Eibar. Kike replaces Sergi Enrich.
Offside, Eibar. Asier Riesgo tries a through ball, but Sergi Enrich is caught offside.
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Toni Kroos (Real Madrid).
Sergi Enrich (Eibar) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Real Madrid. Marco Asensio replaces Isco.
Rubén Peña (Eibar) is shown the yellow card.
Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Gonzalo Escalante (Eibar).
Attempt blocked. Sergi Enrich (Eibar) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Pedro León.
Foul by Pepe (Real Madrid).
Sergi Enrich (Eibar) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) header from very close range is too high. Assisted by Isco.
Corner,  Real Madrid. Conceded by Mauro Dos Santos.
Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Isco.
Foul by Isco (Real Madrid).
Rubén Peña (Eibar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.


China has accused the US of "prejudice" for urging Beijing to provide a full account of the crackdown on pro-democracy activists after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the US should "stop interfering in China's internal affairs".
The Chinese authorities had already reached a "clear conclusion" about the Tiananmen Square protests, he added.
Discussion of the crackdown, thought to have left hundreds dead, remains taboo.
Beijing considers the weeks of peaceful protest by students and workers to have been a "counter-revolutionary" revolt, and defends the decision to send in tanks and troops to end it on 3-4 June 1989. It has yet to provide an official death toll.
On Friday, the US state department said the 24th anniversary of the "violent suppression of demonstrations in Tiananmen Square" prompted it to remember this "tragic loss of innocent lives".
"We renew our call for the Chinese government to end harassment of those who participated in the protests and fully account for those killed, detained or missing," the statement added.
"We renew our call for China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens; release those who have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted, incarcerated, forcibly disappeared or placed under house arrest; and end the ongoing harassment of human rights activists and their families."
On Saturday, Mr Hong warned Washington not to make "groundless accusations".
"We urge the US side to discard political prejudice, correctly treat China's development, immediately rectify its  wrongdoings and stop interfering in China's internal affairs  so as not to sabotage China-US relations," he said in a statement carried by the Xinhua state news agency.


Steve Cotterill has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract to be Nottingham Forest manager after leaving fellow Championship strugglers Portsmouth.

Cotterill will watch Forest's match at Coventry on Saturday from the stands.
The 47-year-old replaces Steve McClaren, who resigned as Forest boss in early October, at the City Ground.
"I'm very excited - it's a wonderful football club which has great traditions which should be embraced," Cotterill told Forest's website.
"I'm passionate - I want us to play good football and play on the front foot.
"I think there are some very talented players in the dressing room and we'll be looking only to enhance that and do well with them.
"I like to think of myself as hard-working, honest and a winner."
Cotterill was at Pompey's training ground earlier on Friday saying goodbye to his players before driving to Nottingham.
He told BBC Radio Solent: "It has not been an easy decision because of the relationship I have with people at Portsmouth.
"The fans, players and staff have been fantastic. It has been a tough day and I would rather just get on with it now.
"It's been a very upsetting morning and I had to compose myself before I came out here to talk to you this morning.
"I'd rather not elaborate because I'll get upset again. Forest are a fantastic club and when I heard of their interest it was very flattering."
Pompey's first-team coach Stuart Gray took training on Friday after Cotterill had said his goodbyes and - along with Guy Whittingham - will take temporary charge of the team.
Former Notts County manager Cotterill emerged as the bookmakers' favourite to take over from McClaren earlier this week.
He Cotterill joined Pompey in June 2010 after a successful stint at Meadow Lane in which he guided County to promotion from League Two.
We did talk about his motivation for going, and he decided it was an offer he couldn't refuse
And Portsmouth chief executive David Lampitt said he had hoped to keep Cotterill at Fratton Park.
"I've built up a good personal relationship with Steve over the last 18 months - we've been through some challenging times together, so I'm sad to see him go, but he leaves with our best wishes for his new job," Lampitt told BBC Radio Solent.
"From a professional and footballing point of view, it creates an opportunity for us to bring in some fresh blood and fresh ideas to the club. We'll take our time doing that to make sure we make the right appointment.
"We did talk about his motivation for going, and he decided it was an offer he couldn't refuse.
"I had several conversations with him over the course of the week, but ultimately it was his decision. I respect that, and we move on and start the search for finding his replacement."
Struggling Forest lie 21st in the Championship, a point and two places below Pompey and last week called off their chase to bring Charlton academy director Paul Hart back to the club in a technical director role.
Assistant manager Rob Kelly will take charge of the team for the trip to Coventry, who sit in 22nd, one point and one place behind Forest.


England coach Peter Moores has been sacked after former captain Andrew Strauss was appointed as the new national director of cricket.

Moores was relieved of his duties following a dismal World Cup and the drawn Test series with West Indies.
The 52-year-old, who also coached England from 2007-2009, said: "I will walk away knowing I've given my all."
Strauss, 38, captained England in 50 of his 100 Test matches, before retiring in August 2012.
The former Middlesex batsman's role will see him oversee the selection process for the England team, as well as performance and development. The new head coach will also report directly to him.
Assistant coach Paul Farbrace will take charge of the side for the two-Test series against New Zealand, which starts at Lord's on 21 May.
"I knew when I took on the role that this was going to be a tough period for English cricket and I would need time and support to get new players through," said Moores.
"My frustration is not being given that time."
Reports claiming Moores was to be dismissed emerged on Friday, while England were playing Ireland in a washed-out one-day international in Dublin.
Confirmation of his sacking followed soon after the announcement of Strauss' appointment on Saturday.
Moores, reappointed England coach in April 2014, was in charge for the World Cup campaign, which saw them eliminated by Bangladesh.
He also oversaw the drawn series with a West Indies side labelled "mediocre" by incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves.
The appointment of Strauss follows the sacking of Paul Downton as ECB managing director.
His fellow former England captains Alec Stewart and Michael Vaughan also expressed initial interest in the post.
ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said Strauss was "an exceptional England captain, is an authoritative voice on the modern game and has a wealth of experience building successful teams".
Moores' agent Luke Sutton said on Twitter: "I do wish Straussy all the best. He's a good cricket man and a strong leader. Tough job on his hands, good luck to him."
On Friday, Sutton had posted a series of tweets in defence of Moores and expressing anger at his treatment. "Peter is a good man who doesn't deserve this," he wrote, but later deleted the posts.
After the New Zealand series, England play Australia in July and August.


What do you call the day after deadline day?

It seems in Northern Ireland we call it Tuesday.
Politics dominates the front pages of the papers again today as the clock which was supposed to stop yesterday at 16:00 keeps on ticking.
The Belfast Telegraph seems to have run out of patience and says of stalemate MLAs who failed to secure an agreement: "Give them three months then stop their pay."
It quotes a member of the panel that sets MLAs' salaries who says their wages cost the taxpayer £13.5m per year - about the same as the botched Renewable Heating Incentive scheme that brought down the power-sharing executive.
Former Ass Chief Const Alan McQuillan says there would be public fury if MLAs were able to "sit back and collect pay cheques in the absence of a working executive".
"The political vacuum means that jobs and public services are under threat in the wider community," he says.
"For MLAs to continue merrily on full pay and expenses would anger people who were feeling the pain of the failure to reach a deal."
Inside, political commentator Malachi O'Doherty says he does not envy the position of Secretary of State James Brokenshire, who is faced with deciding how Northern Ireland moves on from the stalemate.
He says if Mr Brokenshire makes the wrong decision, he could "leave this place even more divided".
Also in the Belfast Telegraph, the family of a missing Londonderry man are facing an anxious wait to find out if the body pulled from the River Foyle on Monday was that of the 23-year-old.
Jack Glenn went missing on 2 February after he failed to return home from a night out.
The News Letter leads with its editorial 'Morning View' on the front page, where it is clear on its position with a headline that asserts: "Sinn Féin holding us all to ransom."
It asks when London "will dismiss pressure from Dublin and realise the Sinn Féin, which is not the first choice of 72% of voters, cannot hold Northern Ireland to ransom just because the party doesn't care if the Province fails?"
"London is naturally afraid of a return to violence... but there is only so long you can act timidly due to such fears," it reads.
The editorial concludes with a plea to readers not to take its stance as sectarian.
"The News Letter has shown its independence from unionist parties in our relentless scrutiny of RHI," it argues.
"Now Northern Ireland faces another governance scandal.
"Regrettably, direct rule is looking to be the best way forward, so that hard decisions can be made free of a Sinn Féin veto."
News Letter reporter Stephen Gamble took to the streets of Coleraine where he says the people share the paper's view that direct rule is the best option for a way forward.
One individual spoken to by the paper said Northern Ireland was "constantly lurching from one political crisis to the next" and rule from London was the "only option".
You'll have to reach page 13 of the paper to read its first non-political story of the day: "Teen scrambler gets 18 months for killing mum," reads the headline.
Gary Lewis, 18, was jailed on Monday for causing the death of mum-of-three Valerie Armstrong.
The story also features in the Irish News, which says Lewis "held Mrs Armstrong's hand and cried uncontrollably as she lay bleeding from fatal injuries".
It also says the teenager wrote to the victim's family.
On page three of the Irish News, Former Fermanagh and Down GAA player Shane King speaks out about his son's brain injury.
Patrick King, 15, was injured while mountain biking at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor on Saturday, and has been sedated in intensive care ever since.
Mr King asks people to keep Patrick in their thoughts and prayers as the family keep a bedside vigil.


The Conservative government seems to be taking a new tack.

It is already planning to spend lots of money on big projects like HS2, a new Hinkley nuclear power station, and maybe even a new airport runway in south east England.
Now the new Chancellor, Philip Hammond, is in favour of spending more money on houses and transport.
It seems that spending on infrastructure, as part of a plan of economic management, is back in vogue.
So, BBC news asked some experts to ponder the vital question: is this a sure-fire way to boost the economy, or can it be a waste of money?
Michelle Baddeley is a professor of economics at University College London.
She points out that money spent on big projects gives an immediate short-term cash boost to the economy, which can last a few years.
But even if the projects seem obviously beneficial, the longer-term effects can be much harder to measure, with many unknowns.
"That's part of the debate about HS2 for instance. How is access to high speed rail going to affect people's productivity at work?" she asks.
"If they are sitting on a train doing nothing then it is not going to be good for their productivity, so the quicker the train journey and the quicker they get to work, the better.
"But if they work on the train that changes the calculations a bit," she adds.
The economic benefits of infrastructure spending can even be hard to spot, let alone measure, even if you are sure they must be there.
So what should a government, with competing demands on its money, do?
"The idea of an infrastructure commission is a good one," says Prof Baddeley.
"You can get people who are as impartial as possible to look carefully at each business case."
Nick Crafts is a professor of economic history, and he thinks that the results of spending on economic infrastructure have been a mixed bag.
Some projects, like the Channel Tunnel, have been extremely expensive compared with their benefits.
And he says there are obvious question marks about the benefits of HS2, the planned new rail link between London, Birmingham and the north of England.
Short term spending may pump money into the economy and then be re-spent, but Prof Crafts thinks this benefit can be overstated.
So what about improving the economic capacity of the economy, long term?
"It is possible to work out roughly what the right level of public spending is to sustain the growth of the economy and prevent bottlenecks," he says.
"Before the banking crisis the right number was about 2.5% of GDP spent on public capital each year and since then we have been spending about 1.5% of GDP.
"But since the crisis, the economy has not grown very much, so the question that is unresolved is whether there is a "new normal" in which the economy will never grow more than quite slowly - if so, the economy will not need so much public capital," he explains.
Alex Trew, lecturer in economics, says that government money spent on infrastructure is not always a good thing and can certainly be wasted .
For a good example he suggests looking at China where six-lane interstate motor ways have been built but which are hardly used.
That points to a greater truth. A top-down approach can lead to wrong decisions.
"It is hard for a government to know what to spend its money on when it comes to infrastructure, which is why it gets into such a pickle when it comes to decide," he says.
"It doesn't know how to pick the right areas or best parts of the country to connect up."
Fundamentally, Dr Trew says, it is very complex to work out what the long term impact will be of any big spending decision.
"We still see the impacts today of investments made in the industrial revolution, so the effects can be very long-lasting" he says.
"But there are lots of complex relationships between things, because people's decisions about where to live, and business decisions about where to put factories and offices, change," he adds.
Christian Wolmar, likes to point to the most recently opened new railway in the UK as a good example of the public good that can come from infrastructure investment.
He is referring to the resurrected Borders railway line which runs south from Edinburgh, through Midlothian, to Galashiels and Tweedbank.
It opened a year ago with passenger numbers already much higher than predicted.
Mr Wolmar says it is a good example of how railways create wider economic wealth.
"For tourism, it has been highly successful in attracting more people," he says.
"The northern bit of the line has clearly led to greater used by commuters so house prices are higher, making houses more desirable and stimulating housing demand.
"It has reduced the amount of traffic on the roads, which helps even those people who don't use it. So it has done everything a railway line is supposed to do," he adds.
Anne Power, professor of social policy, argues that the bigger the investment project, the larger the delays and thus the more problems that can be created.
As a result, she thinks that investment in smaller scale projects can in fact bring more benefits.
"Programmes such as Labour's Decent Homes investment, or investment in energy saving for existing housing stock, would be much more managed and dispersed," she argues.
"The work can be done at ground level by local companies and so there is more local impact on the local economy. It leads more directly into local jobs.
"Another example is investment in train rolling stock," says the professor.
"More modest investment in existing stock would have a much better economic impact than HS2 for example, the impact of which may not be felt for many years and the costs of which are huge."


Bungling council workers have mis-spelt "bus stop" as "bup stop" on a road in Bristol.

"Bup stop" was painted in large yellow lettering after a worn road surface was repaired.
The mistake was made as part of work expected to last up to four weeks in the Old Market area of the city centre.
The howler prompted mocking tweets, with Mark Gullick saying: "Thanks. I've been waiting at a bus stop. That will be why my bup hasn't turned up. Gah!"
A Bristol City Council spokesman said: "It is not often we see our roadworks hitting the headlines worldwide, but we understand why this rare mistake has captured people's imaginations.
"While it became something of a temporary tourist attraction, the contractor has now corrected the error at no cost to the local taxpayer."


Gary Neville's Valencia side suffered a derby defeat as they lost at La Liga's bottom team, Levante.

Giuseppe Rossi, who played alongside Neville at Manchester United, scored the only goal of the game when he volleyed in from Juanfran's long throw.
Valencia's Sofiane Feghouli had a shot saved by Levante goalkeeper Diego Marino and later curled an effort wide.
Neville has now won only three of 15 La Liga games and Valencia are 12th, eight points above the relegation zone.
The 41-year-old former England international was appointed in December, on a contract until the end of the season, but has struggled in his first managerial role.
Valencia are on course for their worst league finish since they came 14th in La Liga in 1987-88 and are fewer points away from the relegation zone than a top-six place that would secure European football next season.
Indeed, Neville's team face a vital match on Thursday as they look to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of their last-16 Europa League tie.
For Levante, this was a deserved victory as they restricted their visitors to only one shot on target for their sixth league win of the season.
Rossi hit the post in the first half and Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves also made fine saves from Deyverson and Zouhair Feddal.
But Rossi got in front of marker Shkodran Mustafi to steer Juanfran's long throw-in into the bottom corner to earn the victory.


League One club Blackpool have signed left-back Nick Anderton from Barrow for an undisclosed fee.

The 21-year-old has agreed a two-year deal at Bloomfield Road, with the option for a further year.
Anderton joined Barrow from Preston in 2016 following two previous loan spells, and made 52 appearances last season as the club finished seventh.
He is Blackpool's fifth summer signing following their promotion via the League Two play-offs.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Five members of the Friends cast have finally come together in a much-anticipated Friends reunion on US TV.

The cast of the 1990s hit comedy, minus Matthew Perry, reunited on NBC's Tribute to James Burrows on Sunday.
They reminisced during the two-hour tribute that featured clips from the respected director's roster of shows.
But some Friends fans expressed disappointment, saying they had expected a new episode of the hit comedy show.
Perry, who played Chandler, did not attend the show due to rehearsals for his West End play, but did tape an introduction to his former co-stars.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc all took part in the special.
Stars from Burrows' other shows, such as Will & Grace and Cheers, were also there.
The Friends cast started their stint on the sofa reminiscing about the many games of poker they played together off-screen, and offered titbits to host Andy Cohen about their time on the show, both on and off-screen.
Cox revealed that she, Aniston and Kudrow ate lunch together for 10 years while filming the sitcom, eating the same salad, prepared by Aniston, every day.
And they revealed they were good friends away from the studio too, with Kudrow saying "we really wanted to connect" in real life.
"At the beginning it was not a hard thing, we really just wanted to hang out with each other, it was not 'ugh we have to do this'," said Aniston.
"We just really fell in love and adored each other instantly and would hang out at each others' houses and watch the show together."
She added: "We experienced friendship, family, heartbreak, babies, everything together. And we also had a wonderful experience with the world loving us as well."
But some fans on Twitter felt the evening had fallen short of expectations.
Ben Bruce wrote on Twitter: "Hmmmm... that friends "reunion" wasn't even really a reunion... it was blown way out of proportion and now I'm sad."
Another fan, Charlotte Havock, said: Give me an actual real episode reunion of Friends not this tribute thing!!"
Burrows, 75,  has directed hundreds of TV episodes over the last 40 years, with Cheers, Will & Grace, Taxi, Frasier and Friends in his portfolio. Stars from those series also appeared in the tribute show, with several actors from each of the shows appearing and sending recorded messages.


Exeter head coach Rob Baxter says winger Olly Woodburn is thriving after his two-try haul against Bristol.

The 24-year-old has started three of Exeter's four games this season.
"He was fantastic, not just in his carrying and his danger in that area, but some of his high-ball stuff was absolutely top drawer," Baxter told BBC Radio Devon.
"He looks a big, strong, quick, hungry rugby player and those are some of the qualities we saw in him."
Woodburn is in his second season at Sandy Park after moving from Bath, where he failed to break into the side.
He was a regular in the Chiefs team which made the play-off final last season and reached the last eight in the Champions Cup, an improvement which Baxter puts down to the work he has done on the training field.
"He's thriving on real regular game time and lots of good input from Ali Hepher, who's doing a fantastic job with the backs," Baxter said.
"They look like they're thriving on the way we're trying to play and the speed we're moving the ball and the angles we're running."


There was a whole lot of drama at the Globe in 2016, and not just on the stage.

Emma Rice became the venue's artistic director last January, only to announce her departure nine months later after a series of disputes with the board.
Now, actress Michelle Terry is taking the reins.
Speaking from the stage at the Globe theatre, she spoke about Rice's tenure, gender-blind casting and her own lack of theatre directing experience.
Here are six things she told us about her vision for the venue.
When Terry was appointed, some critics pointed out that she had zero directing experience. But it turns out that this isn't going to be a problem.
"I'm not going to direct [any plays], so nobody needs to worry about that," she says. "I think it's a skill that I don't have, I think it's a particular skill, and my passion is acting."
So much so, that Terry plans to take to the stage herself pretty soon.
"Being part of an ensemble is part of my first season's plans, and it's really important to me that I am part of that ensemble.
"I think for me that's what creates the best Shakespeare, collaboration in this space with the artists, with the audience, that's where you get the meaning making, that you're in a collective imaginative space."
Forthcoming productions at the Globe will have equal roles for men and women.
"The whole season will be 50/50, and that's not just small parts played by women or men," Terry says.
"Across the season, the body of work will have equal amounts for male, female, it will be gender blind, race blind, disability blind.
"I have benefitted from that being a possibility. When I played Henry V [last summer], we had Brexit, the Chilcot inquiry, Theresa May as prime minister - these are all things that serve that play, and me being a woman was the last thing on people's minds. So I know it works.
"And also, Shakespeare didn't worry about gender - he had men playing women - so I don't know why we have to worry about it."
Have the outgoing and incoming directors had any contact?
"We've met. I met her as part of the application process, we've had cups of tea," Terry says.
"Most people that work in theatre are freelancers, nobody is part of the building, we all sort of move on. So it really is a community venture, so there's never any... people will talk about there being competition but for me it's a collaborative process."
She adds: "You know Emma's work, if you've seen Kneehigh [the theatre in Cornwall that Rice was the artistic director of] you know what she does.
"So part of that was going, 'Does that work in here?' And the decision was made, in whatever way that came about, 'No', and now I am part of the new experiment, and I hope I last," she says, joking: "I'll see you at Christmas."
One of Rice's most controversial decisions was to use artificial lights and sound amplification.
But purists preferred the traditional unplugged nature of the venue, and Terry confirmed that the decision to use no more amplified sound was made before she got the job.
"The decision has already been made - there will be no amplified sound, no imposed lighting rig, and for me that's what I knew," she says.
"I haven't worked here under Emma's tenure, so what I know is this space as a raw naked space, and I suppose for me it's less about what was added on, but what was missed when you have that.
"What you want to do is reach out and touch the hands of those people. I think it's that direct connection with the audience."
Terry has a clear idea about how to get children enthused about Shakespeare from a young age.
"By experiencing it," she says simply.
"It's so experiential here... no kid in Shakespeare's time would've been made to sit down and read. They're plays.
"They make much more sense when you're on your feet reading them, interacting, and it's the same for the audience. So the more opportunity we can give to kids to experience that, the better.
"And also, teachers were taught badly, so they're frightened of teaching it. So enabling teachers to experience it and giving them a different offering about what they could do with kids in the classroom [is important]."
We'd all be pretty happy to land our dream job without even having to download the application form - but it seems Michelle's appointment kind of happened by accident.
"Weirdly, I didn't apply for this job," she says.
Terry recalls the time when the job was advertised and conversations were being had across the theatre world about the Globe's future.
"Everyone that works here in my experience has wanted to come back. So there are a lot of people, me included, [who were] saying, 'I would love to be part of the artistic conversation'.
"So I wrote a letter to Neil [Constable, Globe chief executive] sort of pledging my allegiance, going 'I'd love to be part of that artistic conversation', and he wrote back asking if I'd like to convert it into a formal application, and at that point I thought, yes I would."
That idea turned out quite well.
"Every artistic adventure involves risk," she says as she looks to the future of the venue.
"I take great courage in the fact they've taken an enormous risk by putting an actor in this position. I think that smacks of bravery, and it gives me great hope."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk


Bath have signed former Saracens winger Jack Wilson from New Zealand provincial side Otago until the end of the season.

Wilson, 26, played for Super Rugby side Highlanders earlier in 2016 and will join the Premiership club after Otago's Mitre 10 Cup competition concludes.
Born in New Zealand, he has played international rugby sevens for England and New Zealand, and joined Saracens in December 2012 from Bay of Plenty.
His Otago teammate Paul Grant also signed for Bath on 30 September.
"Jack will be a fantastic addition to the squad. He's very fit from his time with the England Sevens squad," Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder told the club website.


The yellow submarine named Boaty McBoatface is set to leave for Antarctica this week on its first science expedition.

The robot is going to map the movement of deep waters that play a critical role in regulating Earth's climate.
Boaty carries the name that a public poll had suggested be given to the UK's future Â£200m polar research vessel.
The government felt this would be inappropriate and directed the humorous moniker go on a submersible instead.
But what many people may not realise is that there is actually more than one Boaty. The name covers a trio of vehicles in the new Autosub Long Range class of underwater robots developed at Southampton's National Oceanography Centre (NOC).
These machines can all be configured slightly differently depending on the science tasks they are given.
The one that will initiate the "adventures of Boaty" will head out of Punta Arenas, Chile, on Friday aboard Britain's current polar ship, the RRS James Clark Ross.
The JCR will drop the sub into a narrow, jagged, 3,500m-deep gap in an underwater ridge that extends northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Referred to as the Orkney Passage, this is the gateway into the Atlantic for much of the "bottom-water" that is created as sea-ice grows on the margins of the White Continent.
Frozen floes will cool and densify the water immediately below them, and this then generates a current that slides into the abyss to eventually move northwards. And in traversing the Orkney Passage, the bottom-water can feed the "great ocean conveyor" - the relentless system of deep circulation that helps redistribute all the heat energy that has built up in the climate system.
Boaty's mission will be to survey conditions in the passage.
Scientific moorings anchored in the area already gather some data, but the robot's mobility and autonomy means it can now build a full, three-dimensional picture of what's happening many hundred of metres below the surface.
Scientists have good evidence that the bottom-water is warming. Quite why is not clear but it could have major implications, says Prof Mike Meredith from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
"One of these is sea-level rise because if you make water warmer obviously it expands and that pushes the sea level up," he told BBC News.
"But it also has relevance for benthic ecosystems. So, the animals that live on the seabed can typically cope well with low temperatures but not all of them can cope with changes in temperatures. The fact that this water has been getting warmer may have significant consequences for these animals."
The recorded warming could be the result of a change in the way the deep current is moving through the passage.  If there is greater turbulence as the bottom-water flows over the jagged terrain, it might be mixing more warm water downwards.  Boaty will have a probe on its nose to assess this.
"There are 'rapids' and 'waterfalls' that are occurring within the channels and valleys that surround underwater mountains in the passage," explained Dr Eleanor Frajka-Williams from Southampton University.
"Boaty is going to make measurements within these 'streams' and 'rivers' of the smallest-scale motions to try to understand how that water is being changed as it leaves the formation regions around Antarctica and then spreads out over the world's oceans."
And while this particular robot is hard at work in the Southern Ocean, its two siblings back in Southampton are being prepared for their own expeditions.
Scientists are queuing up to use them, and to exploit their ability to autonomously patrol the oceans for weeks, even months, on end.
"Having three Boaty vehicles in the fleet means we can cover a much wider range of environments and geographic locations than we could with just one," said NOC's Prof Russell Wynn.
"So, one vehicle might be going out to Antarctica and surveying around and under the ice; another might be going to the deepest parts of the ocean, down to 6km; and another might be doing something more applied in, for example, the North Sea.
"We're getting lots of proposals and it's great that we can meet that demand," he told BBC News.
The Dynamics of the Orkney Passage Outflow (DynOPO) expedition is a collaboration between BAS, the University of Southampton and NOC.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


Energy company E.On has apologised and agreed to pay £1.7m in compensation after it overcharged 94,000 customers following price rises.

Some £1.4m is being paid directly to customers who were overcharged on exit fees. They will receive an average rebate of £14.83 each.
The other £300,000 will be paid into a hardship fund run by charity Age UK.
E.On made errors during a 30-day window that allows customers to switch supplier before a price rise.
During that time, industry rules mean customers on fixed-term deals should not incur an exit fee if they signal their intention to switch supplier.
If they make this intention clear, they should also avoid any higher prices if the switch happens after the price rise comes into effect.
Regulator Ofgem said that the compensation related to four price rises that occurred between 2008 and 2011. E.On is the only one of the big six energy companies not to have announced a price rise for residential customers so far this autumn.
Ofgem said that E.On brought the error to its attention in November and had agreed to compensate customers rather than face an investigation and a potential fine.
Customers who were overcharged have been identified by E.On, the regulator said, and should receive a cheque with their rebate by the end of January. They do not need to contact the energy company.
An Ofgem spokesman said that if it emerged that not all former customers could be sent rebates, their refunds would be added to the hardship fund instead.
The payment includes an 8% interest payment on the amount that they were incorrectly charged.
"Ofgem has put in place protections for consumers so they can get a fair warning if their supplier puts up prices and time to shop around for a better deal," said Sarah Harrison, of Ofgem.
"E.On has accepted it failed to meet these protections. This announcement that E.On will compensate customers is a positive step by the company to put right their mistakes and is welcome."
E.On has apologised and said that the error would not happen again.
"We are very sorry to have let down some of our former customers and have made clear that we will refund the money plus interest. Our systems are being updated," said David Bird, customer service director at E.On UK.
"We have been open in our failure with the energy regulator, Ofgem, and are pleased to have agreed with them how we can put this right and have identified all customers who are due to receive payment from us in January."
Audrey Gallacher, director of energy at watchdog Consumer Focus, said: "This agreement sends a welcome message to the energy industry that not sticking to the rules has repercussions.
"It is positive that E.On worked with the regulator to get this money back to customers who lost out, rather than paying a fine which would go back to the Treasury.
"We want to see new powers for Ofgem to require fines to be paid back to energy customers brought into force as soon as possible, to ensure people can be directly compensated if they lose out when things go wrong."


Scientists say they've made a breakthrough in the fight against wildlife crime: they've managed to retrieve human fingerprints from feathers.

14 January 2015 Last updated at 16:39 GMT
A team from Dundee managed to recover fingerprints from the feathers of birds of prey, which are under threat from illegal poisoning, shooting and trapping.
If the birds have been handled, fingerprints could help police track down the person who did it.
We spoke to one of the researchers on the project.


The justice secretary has said a UK Treasury decision not to allow reformed Scottish police and fire services to recover VAT was "manifestly unfair".

Kenny MacAskill is pushing ahead with plans for single police and fire services instead of regional bodies.
The UK government argued the single services would not be eligible for VAT refunds, worth more than £30m a year.
Mr MacAskill said the policy was in contrast to Westminster's treatment of Academy schools in England.
He said the rules for the government-funded schools were changed to allow VAT to be reclaimed.
Under Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994, local authorities can recover the VAT they pay for supplies, which relate to their non-business activities.
A letter from Mr MacAskill said he had not received any formal reasons for the UK Treasury decision not to allow the new Scottish Police Authority to reclaim VAT but he understood it was because it would be "funded by central government".
Mr MacAskill said the decision would mean the police and fire services in Scotland would be the only ones in the UK unable to recover VAT.
He said: "This decision by the Treasury is unacceptable, unjustifiable and manifestly unfair. This charge on Scottish public sector reform is not levied on similar reforms in the rest of the UK."
Mr MacAskill said the UK government had changed the rules on VAT for Academy schools - which are entirely funded by central government.
He added: "It also ignores the fact that the new Police Authority will continue to be able to receive funding from Scottish local authorities to pay the costs of agreed local priorities.
"This provides a direct link with local taxation, which we consider meets the Treasury's policy on VAT recovery."
The Police and Fire Reform Bill reaches Stage 3 in the Scottish Parliament this week and the new single services are scheduled to begin in April 2013.
The Treasury insists that the Scottish government knew all along that their model for service reform would lead to the loss of VAT exemption.
Public sector union Unison claimed the ending of the exemption would cost the police £26m a year and the new national fire service between £4m and £10m.
A union spokesman said: "It appears that Scotland's public services are going to have to pay a high price for allowing greater ministerial control of our police and fire services."


The UK trade deficit narrowed to £1.2bn in April from £3.1bn in March, the Office for National Statistics said.

An £8.6bn deficit on goods was partially offset by an estimated surplus of £7.4bn on services, it said.
The ONS added that in the quarter to April, exports were flat after 0.3% growth in the first quarter, but imports were up 2.1%, the same as in the three months to March.
UK exporters have struggled in the face of weak demand in the eurozone.
Part of the deficit dip was down to a fall in imports of art and furniture, said the ONS. Another factor was less oil being imported.
Last year, companies began stockpiling oil as the price of the commodity collapsed.
The deficit - a description of how much imports exceed exports by value -  was less than economists had expected.
"Monthly trade figures are notoriously volatile but today's significant improvement is nonetheless very welcome, but there is no room for any complacency," said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce.
"The longer-term trend still shows a worsening in the trade position in recent months. It is clear that we are not making enough, sustained, progress in closing the trade gap."
The UK's trade deficit for 2014 widened to £34.8bn, the biggest gap since 2010.


French President Emmanuel Macron is holding his first face-to-face talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin near Paris, amid tensions over the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.

They met at the ornate Grand Trianon Palace at Versailles. Mr Macron said he expected some tough words.
It could be an awkward meeting, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Paris reports.
Recently Mr Macron's election team accused Russian agents of launching cyber attacks against them.
At the G7 summit in Sicily at the weekend Mr Macron said: "It is essential to talk to Russia because there are a number of international issues that will not be resolved without a tough dialogue with them."
France is in the coalition backing Sunni Arab and Kurdish rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has strong military help from Russia and Iran.
France has taken a firm line against Moscow over Russia's intervention in Ukraine. Western sanctions, imposed after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, have been ratcheted up since pro-Russian rebels carved out a breakaway region in eastern Ukraine.
Mr Putin appeared to support Mr Macron's nationalist rival Marine Le Pen during the French presidential election campaign.
He hosted Ms Le Pen in the Kremlin a month before the election's first round.
Ms Le Pen's National Front (FN) has received significant loans from Russian banks or banks associated with Russian financiers. She argued that French banks would not give the FN any loans.
Before becoming president this month Mr Macron accused Russia of pursuing "a hybrid strategy combining military intimidation and an information war".
Versailles was chosen for the Macron-Putin meeting because an exhibition dedicated to Tsar Peter the Great is opening there. He visited Paris 300 years ago, along with other European countries which greatly influenced his reign.
It is President Macron's latest diplomatic test after the G7 talks in Sicily and the Nato summit in Brussels where he turned the tables on US President Donald Trump by holding him in a clenched handshake until their knuckles went white.
Afterwards, Mr Macron told French media the exchange was "not innocent" and he had wanted to "show he would not make small concessions, not even symbolic ones, but also not overdo things".


A free service which helps people locate pension pots they have lost track of will triple its number of staff to meet record numbers of enquiries.

The Pension Tracing Service will have its headcount tripled to 49 by April.
Last year, the service was contacted 145,000 times - double the number of contacts it dealt with in 2010.
It helps people to find providers of pensions they have lost contact with, often after switching jobs.
Estimates by the National Association of Pension Funds suggest that there could be as many as 50 million dormant and lost pension pots by 2050.
Pensions Minister Steve Webb said: "Whilst we have plans to help people combine their pension pots in future when they change jobs, there are still too many scattered and lost pensions.
"We are working hard to make sure people get what they are entitled to."
Jill Scott, operational manager at the PTS, pointed out that recovering this money can help people enter retirement "in a much better position".
"While it may sound strange, losing track of a pension is easily done, as people tend to move around the jobs market far more frequently than might have been the case in the past," she said.
From April pension holders will also be able to access the government's new "pension wise" service, which offers guidance to people over 55 about how they can make the most of the new pension freedoms which will come into force the same month.
Changes announced by George Osborne last year will mean that around 300,000 people a year will be able to access their defined contribution (DC) pension savings on demand, subject to their marginal tax rate in that year.
It replaces the current system in which people are directed towards a retirement annuity.
Concerns were raised earlier this month on Radio 4's Money Box that the new advice service will not have enough staff to deal with the demand expected when the new rules come into force in April.


A husband and wife who were friends of the serial killers Fred and Rose West have been jailed for sexually abusing 10 children over a 15-year period.

David Williams, 57, was sentenced to life in prison and Pauline Williams, 53, was jailed for 12 years plus four years on extended licence.
The couple, from Bradninch, Devon, became friends of the Wests in Gloucester in the 1980s.
They were found guilty of a string of sex attacks in October.
The court heard David Williams boasted of his connections with the Wests, who drank at the Prince Albert pub he ran in Gloucester.
The couple started abusing children in the late 1980s when they were running the pub. One victim was seven years old.
They ran the Victoria Inn in Exeter after moving to the city in the 1990s, where they went on to abuse a string of teenagers.
They denied a total of 46 charges of sexual and physical abuse dating between 1989 and 2004.
David Williams was found guilty of 10 rapes, 13 indecent assaults, five counts of gross indecency, two of cruelty and one of sexual activity with a child.
Pauline Williams was found guilty of two rapes and five indecent assaults. They were found not guilty of eight other allegations involving two other complainants.
Det Con Debbie Dow, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "David and Pauline Williams carried out a string of sickening and callous sexual attacks on children and teenagers without remorse over a 15-year period.
"These victims, both men and women, had their childhoods stolen by David and Pauline Williams and all have suffered difficulties throughout their adulthood following this abuse as they struggled to live normal lives."


Oldham have banned a supporter from home games for the rest of the season for sending an "abusive and threatening" tweet aimed at the family of manager Stephen Robinson.

Police had investigated the message and met with both parties.
However the Robinson family have decided not to take any further action.
"We would like to remind all supporters that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated under any circumstances and action will be taken," the club said.
The Latics are bottom of League One, three points adrift of safety.


A 19-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a seven-week-old girl.

Ezmai Martin was taken to hospital in Guildford after an incident at a flat in Bordon, Hampshire, on 28 June 2015.
She was transferred to St George's Hospital in London, where she died.
Joshua Martin, of Salisbury Close, Alton, appeared before Basingstoke magistrates and was remanded in custody to appear before Winchester Crown Court on Thursday.
Hampshire Police declined to comment on the relationship between Mr Martin and the baby girl.