Month: October 2023

The Government has announced a U-turn over plans to close the vast majority of railway station ticket offices in England. Transport Secretary Mark Harper said train operators have been asked to withdraw the proposals as they “do not meet the high thresholds set by ministers”. This is in response to watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch announcing they opposed every single planned closure due to issues such as the impact […]

Avanti West Coast said it is cancelling Saturday services at short notice due to staff shortages. The company, which operates trains on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central, is cutting services across its network. This comes after it reached an agreement with the Department for Transport (DfT) earlier this month to reduce its Saturday timetables between London and each of Birmingham, Manchester and North Wales […]

Dominic Cummings, the former chief adviser to Boris Johnson who fell foul of lockdown rules, will face questions at the Covid-19 Inquiry. A key figure in Downing Street throughout the Government’s early response to the pandemic, Mr Cummings will give evidence on Tuesday as the investigation continues. Mr Cummings was Mr Johnson’s top political aide in Downing Street from July 2019, having previously led Vote Leave in the Brexit referendum […]

Matt Di Angelo has returned to EastEnders to reprise his role as Dean Wicks after seven years. The 36-year-old actor has also had stints on historical series Borgia and crime show Hustle as well as competing on Strictly Come Dancing. On Monday, the BBC announced that episodes will see Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) in “horror” as Dean returns to Albert Square to work as the Beale family’s new business partner. […]

Erik Ten Hag insisted Manchester United were still “on the up” despite being comprehensively outplayed by rivals Manchester City in Sunday’s derby. Erling Haaland struck twice – the first from the penalty spot – and Phil Foden added another as treble winners City eased to a 3-0 win in a one-sided Premier League encounter at Old Trafford. The result underlined City’s superiority over their neighbours – the gap between the […]

Labour has suspended its MP Andy McDonald, claiming comments he made at a pro-Palestine rally were “deeply offensive”. Mr McDonald, who will sit as an independent MP while an investigation takes place, used the phrase “between the river and the sea” in a speech during a demonstration at the weekend. A Labour spokesperson said: “The comments made by Andy McDonald at the weekend were deeply offensive, particularly at a time […]

Artificial intelligence tools will be rolled out in classrooms across England to help reduce teachers’ workloads, the Prime Minister has said. Rishi Sunak has announced a £2 million investment in new classroom technology, including AI-designed lesson plans and quizzes. The funding will be used by online classroom resource Oak National Academy to improve the technologies for use in schools across England, before they are rolled out for teachers. It follows […]

Fawlty Towers star John Cleese has claimed that comedy troupe Monty Python was an early target of “cancel culture”. The comedy actor is presenting a new show called The Dinosaur Hour which will include an episode on cancel culture, a subject of interest to Cleese. The 84-year-old was in Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, which many argued should be banned when it was released in 1979. Speaking about censorship in […]

A fifth celebrity has been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing after a dance-off which one judge said featured “fighting spirit” from both couples. Former Love Island star Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima have lost their chance to lift the Glitterball trophy later this year after their Charleston dance to Jeepers Creepers by Al Donahue and his Orchestra failed to impress judges on Sunday’s pre-recorded BBC One show. McDermott, 26, […]