News

Take That member Howard Donald has said he is “deeply sorry” after making a “huge error” by “liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community”. Donald, 55, who performs in the pop group alongside Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, has been dropped from playing at Groovebox’s Nottingham Pride Festival event in July. In an Instagram story on Saturday, Donald wrote: “I have made a huge error in my judgement (by) liking social […]

The King has received the official birthday wishes of the nation during his first Trooping the Colour ceremony as monarch. Pomp and pageantry were on display during the military spectacle where the most prestigious regiments in the British Army honoured their Colonel in Chief by parading to mark his anniversary. Charles had deputised for Queen Elizabeth II at last year’s event, also known as the Birthday Parade, but now rode […]

Labour and Conservative former ministers along with two prominent Tory backbenchers are among the politicians recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for public service. Sir Ben Bradshaw, who served in both Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments and was only the second MP to be openly gay when elected in 1997, is receiving a knighthood. Long-serving Tory MPs John Baron and Bob Blackman are both made CBEs while former […]

The first test of this summer's series begins today at Edgbaston Ben Stokes has told his team a big Ashes summer will “never be forgotten” as he prepares to lead England’s battle to reclaim the urn for the first time since 2015. Stokes already owns a significant slice of Ashes history, with his match-winning century at Headingley four years ago inked into the folklore of cricket’s most storied series. He and his 10 team-mates […]

MPs will vote on Monday on whether to accept the recommendations of the Privileges Committee The fallout from a scathing report which found Boris Johnson lied to MPs over partygate has left Rishi Sunak with a battle to hold his warring Tory party together. The Commons will vote on Monday on the Privileges Committee’s report, which recommended that Mr Johnson should have faced a 90-day suspension had he not already resigned in […]

Boris Johnson committed “repeated contempts” of Parliament by deliberately misleading MPs with his partygate denials before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation, a cross-party investigation has found. The Privileges Committee recommended a 90-day suspension which would have paved the way for a by-election for the former prime minister if he had not quit the Commons in anticipation. Though his resignation means he will escape that punishment, the […]

Manchester City will begin their bid for a record fourth consecutive Premier League title away to Vincent Kompany’s Burnley. The Treble winners will visit Turf Moor to face their former captain’s newly-promoted side on the evening of Friday, August 11 to raise the curtain on the 2023-24 campaign. It will be the second time Kompany – who won the title on four occasions as City skipper – will have faced […]

University applicants’ personal statements are read for just two minutes on average, a report has suggested. The majority of higher education admissions professionals said decisions about which applicants should be offered a university or college place are primarily made on the basis of grades, a survey found. Nearly two in five (39%) said the personal statements written by university applicants were read for just one minute or less, according to […]

Better anti-racism policies could boost the NHS workforce, an independent body focused on tackling ethnic inequalities has said. The NHS Race and Health Observatory was formed in 2021 to examine disparities in health and social care based on race. The organisation is calling for “better care, training and anti-racist policies” to enhance staff numbers in the NHS, and said this would “improve patient experience and save millions of pounds spent […]