Here's what happened in June 2017:

CIVIC chiefs were criticised for pumping £81 million into a tobacco company, writes Bradley Halcrow. Hampshire County Council’s pension fund had invested the money into one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world, British American Tobacco. The council tops the list of UK authorities who have investments in tobacco. However, some of the world’s largest investment organisations have called for UK authorities to pull out of tobacco investments. The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association said it was “silly” for one part of the council to be trying to promote health while the pension fund was, indirectly, promoting smoking.

HAMPSHIRE politicians and community figures called for calm and unity after the terror attack on London Bridge. The attack involved a white van which hit several pedestrians. Leading politicians, police and religious figures in Hampshire strongly condemned the attack and issued messages of solidarity and defiance. A minute of silence was held at the starting line of Romsey’s five mile beer race, while 300 candles were lit at Romsey Abbey. Councillor Roy Perry, the leader of Hampshire County Council, offered his condolences and sympathy to the family of those affected.

ROBBIE Williams proved himself to be great entertainer, despite struggling with a bad back, when he took to stage at St Mary’s in front of thousands of adoring fans. Gig-goers and staff were all in great spirits despite the increased security, with fans posing for pictures with armed police, and beer sellers dancing in the rain beforehand. As well as his and Take That numbers, he covered songs by other artists such as George Michael and Frank Sinatra. The most rapturous reception was reserved for the finale version of Angels, which saw thousands of phone ‘lighters’ fill the night sky.

HAMPSHIRE’S MPs spoke of their shock at the general election result that no-one saw coming. After the Prime Minister’s failed gamble to secure a larger majority, Britain faced the unstable future of a hung parliament. Theresa May said she would join with her DUP “friends” to form a “government of certainty”. The county’s MPs were divided over Mrs May’s future. New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne said she should stay but Southampton Labour MP Alan Whitehead, who increased his majority to 11,000, called on her to stand down. Royston Smith, the returning Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen after holding on by a mere 31 votes against city council leader Simon Letts after numerous recounts, said Mrs May was right to call the election and should remain as Prime Minister.

A SOUTHAMPTON college was ordered to improve across the board in an Ofsted report. Inspectors said that all seven areas at City College after it was rated “requires improvement” – just one grade above inadequate in the four point scale. The inspectors deemed leadership, quality of teaching and behaviour all to be below par – despite the college having been graded “good” in its last inspection in 2011. They said attendance at the college, which has 4,900 students, was “poor”, that “the proportion of students that achieve their qualifications is not yet good” and “too few apprentices complete their courses on time”. The report stated that “achievement in English and maths requires urgent improvement” and that “too few employers are adequately involved in planning the training of their apprentices”.

ROCK legend Rod Stewart, pictured, brought down the curtain on the Isle of Wight Festival 2017. Thousands of music fans descended on the island to enjoy performances from acts such as Kaiser Chiefs, Arcade Fire, the Kooks, Zara Larsson and Example. There was even an appearance from former Saints player Peter Crouch, and his wife Abby Clancy. Wet weather was forecast for the duration of the weekend, however it ended up raining only lightly on the Thursday and staying clear for the other three days.

SAINTS defender Ryan Bertrand pledged to offer his services to the Grenfell Tower relief effort by helping to find new homes for survivors. Bertrand, 27, revealed on Twitter that he wanted to help those affected by the fire disaster by doing more than just donating. Bertrand wrote: “I went to Grenfell Tower. I want to help, not just donate.”

A HAMPSHIRE home care agency left elderly clients unfed and unwashed and made rushed visits which resulted in vulnerable people missing medicines and fluids has shut down. Grove Domiciliary Care, which had a contract with Hampshire County Council, had such a bad report by government inspectors that it shut itself down. Following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission the Fareham-based firm was rated inadequate. Inspectors also found Grove was guilty of several breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. One senior county politician – Cllr Sean Woodward – described the report as the worst he had ever read. Among issues uncovered by inspectors were clients being left without a wash or shower, staff regularly missing visits, workers being employed without police checks, and out of hours alarm systems being switched off.