
Conference delegates grateful ousting Starmer has paid off, but relief tempered by fiscal headwinds ahead
Even Andy Burnham’s closest allies accept that deposing Keir Starmer to install their man as leader was a huge political gamble. But if the mood at the Labour party conference in Liverpool is anything to go by, it is one that – so far – has paid off.
The contrast with last year, when Starmer retained his grip on the party and Burnham slunk away from Liverpool early, could not be more stark. Their relief at their turn of fortune is tempered only by the fiscal headwinds ahead.
Continue reading...The actors are working together for the first time ever, in Noël Coward’s comedy Hay Fever. Backstage, there’s no stopping their tales of skinny-dipping, fat-shaming and warring co-stars
Richard E Grant: Despite our vast combined vintage, our paths have never crossed before, have they?
Christine Baranski: Regrettably not. We could have had some good fun a few decades ago. A girl could have got into some real trouble. But here we are, and now we’re the veterans. You’re among the great character actors, popping up delightfully in so many things and always being spot-on.
Continue reading...She lit up Sherlock, made a brutal exit from House of the Dragon and now she’s back in the hard-hitting Belfast-set police drama. Will she have to stuff a chopping board into her flak jacket this time round?
Sharp eyes save lives. That’s the mantra of the police officers in Blue Lights, although the words sound a good deal more urgent when said in a throaty Belfast accent. The city, dealing with past and present problems, is the turbulent setting for the hit drama. Having starred in the BBC series for the past four years, Siân Brooke has taken its lessons about vigilance to heart.
“I noticed some dodgy-looking activity not far from where we live in London,” says Brooke. “I’d driven past a few times and was suspicious. I told my husband that the last time I went past, I slowed down and did a drive-by, so they’d know their untoward behaviour had been rumbled. My husband said: ‘You can’t do that, Siân. You’re not a real cop!’” She laughs. “I think Blue Lights has got to me. What was I going to do, make a citizen’s arrest?”
Continue reading...Local people say members of WhatsApp group noticed suspicious activity around vans in Whelford overnight
In the early hours of Sunday morning, a resident of the village of Whelford was driving home from a party when she saw three white vans parked on a country road. She was immediately suspicious, she said, and all the more so when she spotted a “large group of hooded and balaclavaed” men. She called 999 and police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later.
The resident, who asked not to be named but reportedly is a local farmer, told the Press Association: “It would appear that by doing so I just derailed whatever they [the men] were planning. A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the airbase is on high alert. I think it’s absolutely astonishing.”
Continue reading...Experts share what you need to know about GLP-1-related hair loss as the side-effect gets more attention from researchers
About 20 million people across the US, UK, and EU are taking GLP-1 receptor agonists like tirzepatide and semaglutide (Ozempic or Mounjaro are common brands) for weight loss and type 2 diabetes. As their use has surged, we’re learning more about their side-effects. One that’s been getting a lot of attention from researchers lately: hair loss.
In one survey of people who take these medications, 20% of respondents experienced hair shedding, although the lack of high-quality data from a randomized, controlled trial to assess this side-effect makes it difficult to know exactly how common it is.
Continue reading...The PM oozes confidence and easy-going charm as he tells Laura Kuenssberg the hill he’ll die on is fixing social care
In recent weeks there has been much speculation in some parts of the media that Andy Burnham would call an early general election. Speculation that existed largely in the heads of those writing the stories, as even the most favourable polls suggest Labour would lose its huge majority and become the largest party in a coalition government. But to stop the chatter dominating his party conference, Burnham made it clear there would be no early election. His reward? Headlines in the rightwing press that he had bottled it. By not calling an election he had never planned to call. Sometimes you just can’t win.
There again, you might call this a first-world problem for the prime minister. This time last year, Burnham had been hanging around the fringes of the conference as he and his allies attempted one of the most half-arsed coups in living memory. One that fizzled out almost before it had started and became the butt of many jokes among Keir Starmer’s inner circle. Andy looked to have blown himself up on the runway, leaving Keir safe for the duration of the parliament.
Continue reading...Five men arrested on terrorism charges after explosives found near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
Counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Iran is behind a suspected bomb plot after armed officers found explosives on three vans parked minutes from an RAF base used by the US military.
The Guardian understands that after five men were arrested on terrorism charges, investigators were examining materials found in the vans, with an initial view being they were consistent with improvised explosive devices.
Continue reading...Healey to announce new facilities to maintain nuclear submarines on the Clyde
Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor, has accused John Healey of offering the Labour conference “reheated announcements” in his speech later.
Referring to Labour briefing overnight that three new floating docks will go ahead on the Clyde (see 7.54am), Griffith said:
These are more reheated announcements without clarity on where the money is coming from. Additional docks were announced months ago in the defence investment plan, which still has a £4.7bn black hole.
John Healey resigned warning that Labour’s failure to fund defence was making Britain unsafe. Now that he is chancellor, he still won’t fund the 3% target he walked out over.
My politics were shaped by the industrial heartlands of South Yorkshire. Today, on the site of the Orgreave pit, is Rotherham’s Advanced Manufacturing Park. Our coal mines are not coming back. But this is how Britain’s industrial past is being remade now for the modern world. This is the new age of industrialisation. A new confidence in Britain.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary will tell party’s conference ‘we are not here to accept the status quo but to change it’
Ed Miliband will tell campaigners and party members who raised the plight of Palestinians they were right that Labour’s approach had not been enough, saying he was heeding the calls of millions of people by imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements.
The foreign secretary will tell the Labour party conference that the government will take more explicitly progressive foreign policy positions under Andy Burnham, and that the UK will be a leader among like-minded countries in a new age of diplomacy.
Continue reading...Marine Le Pen hails ‘historic victory’ as her party and allies win enough seats to form caucus just months ahead of presidential poll
France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies have secured a record 14 seats in the rightwing-dominated Senate in elections, effectively quadrupling its number in the 348-seat chamber just months before a presidential poll.
RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen called the results an “historic victory” after they were announced on Sunday. “The results have exceeded our expectations,” she said.
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