Politics

More world-class players and stars have reached the Champions League final

Published

2 hours ago

11 May 2026

Champions League

The Champions League has reached the moment when the most coveted title will be decided, with the gap between dream and reality narrowing in a final that holds the hope of a first title for Arsenal, or a second in a row for Paris Saint-Germain.

In London, Arsenal wrote a new chapter in their season after securing their place in the final with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Atlético Madrid on a raucous night at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners’ return to the final comes for only the second time in their history, following their 2006 final defeat to Barcelona, but this time they look like a more mature side, and one even more hungry to lift the trophy.

In Munich, the action was no less thrilling. Paris Saint-Germain knew how to manage the game against Bayern Munich, settling for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena, capitalising on their mad 5-4 first-leg victory in Paris to book their place in the final.

And so, the two sides are set to meet on 30 May in a final with a different flavour, bringing together two projects seeking to establish themselves at the pinnacle of European football.

Reaching this stage is not merely a passing achievement; it is every player’s greatest dream, the match that etches names into the annals of history. Yet behind this night lie long journeys forged by names accustomed to appearing in the final time and again.

Players with the most Champions League final appearances

According to data from Transfermarkt, Germany’s Toni Kroos tops the list of players with the most final appearances since the 1992/1993 season, having reached the final seven times, winning the title on six occasions with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Close behind Kroos are four players who know the path to the trophy well, having played in six finals and won all six titles: Luka Modrić, Nacho Fernández, Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez.

As for Cristiano Ronaldo, the competition’s all-time leading goalscorer, he has reached the final six times, lifting the trophy on five occasions and losing once with Manchester United, leaving his mark as one of the most influential players in the competition’s history.

The list continues with names that have made European history: David Alaba (four titles from six finals), Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta (three titles each with Milan), alongside Real Madrid’s golden generation: Casemiro, Gareth Bale,

Karim Benzema, Marcelo and Isco, who have won 5 titles from 5 finals.

As for Argentine star Lionel Messi, he is one of eight players to have reached the final four times, winning all of them.

Featured image via EUFA

By Alaa Shamali

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Politics

The House Opinion Article | The Professor Will See You Now: Sleep

Published

11 minutes ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Illustration by Tracy Worrall

4 min read22 min

Lessons in political science. This week: sleep

There was a night, many years ago, when I was drifting off to sleep listening to the radio and the last thing I heard before the land of nod was Geoff Hoon, on The World Tonight, doing a good job defending the indefensible. When the radio woke me up in the morning, there he was again, this time on the Today programme, still on a sticky wicket but batting with gusto.

The more critical of you might say that both falling asleep and waking up to Geoff Hoon is Too Much Hoon, and the sort of thing that only Mrs Hoon should experience, but he was then one of the university’s local MPs, always very helpful with student requests and the like, so there will be no cheap gags like this here. See it, instead, as a small and perhaps unremarkable example of the reservoirs of energy required by frontline politicians.

Ditto for the last day of April, which marked 21 years since I first appeared as an election night anorak. Election all-nighters, fuelled only by coffee and adrenaline, may be great fun for commentators and journalists – it’s one of the highlights of my year – but they seem much less enjoyable for politicians, many of whom have been campaigning for weeks before and would much rather feel a pillow beneath their head. Those whose parties are on the up at least get to enjoy the bragging rights, but the ones I’m always most impressed by are those who have got a right kicking from the electorate – ‘well, it’s certainly been a difficult night for us’ – but who are still there at 4am, fighting the good fight.

Or take that bit in Doctor Who, when the Doctor manages to undermine Harriet Jones, the prime minister, by whispering the phrase “Doesn’t she look tired?” to one of her aides; those four words prove to be enough to cause her downfall. It’s much quoted, but implausible. Of course she looks tired! She’s the prime minister; they all look like that. Exhaustion is part of the job description.

It’s less obvious that this is all a good thing. There are plenty of studies on how sleep deprivation lowers your cognitive abilities (although you don’t need an academic study to know this if you’ve been a parent). Bill Clinton once said that every important mistake he’d made in his life, he’d made because he was too tired – although he clearly wasn’t too tired for some of his mistakes.

New research just published in Political Psychology has now also found a link between the quality of sleep and political participation. Based on European Social Survey data from 12 countries, including the UK, researchers found that individuals who report good sleep are more likely to vote, even after controlling for a range of other variables. Those who don’t are more likely to take part in non-electoral politics. The effects don’t appear consistently across countries, which implies something else might be going on, although they are found in the UK.

The paper might be thought to slightly oversell itself by claiming that “creating societies where high-quality sleep is accessible to the public is vital to the sustainability of democratic regimes”, given that the size of the effects is relatively small; even if all were suffering cheese-inspired nightmares on a regular basis, turnout wouldn’t be all that much lower. Increased levels of education, for example, drive up turnout by roughly four to five times as much as improved sleep quality does. That, however, is just the direct effect. Sleep quality will also be working as a background factor, affecting many of the other variables that drive turnout, including education, health, and so on. ‘Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, And it makes you vote a bit more’. As Shakespeare could have written.

Further reading: F Erol et al, Waking up to politics: How sleep quality relates to political participation, Political Psychology, 2026

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Politics

Politics Home Article | Campaigners in Westminster call time on hunting with dogs

Published

19 minutes ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Animal welfare campaigners held a rally outside parliament today to call on the government to tackle the brutal blood sport of fox hunting and end hunting with dogs.

The rally was organised by national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports and comes midway through a government consultation on how to ban so called trail hunting, the discredited excuse invented by fox hunts to conceal their chasing and killing of foxes.

It was attended by campaigners from the League Against Cruel Sports, Hunt Saboteurs Association, RSPCA, Wildlife and Countryside Link, Humane World for Animals, and members of the public.

The speakers included conservationists and TV presenters Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin, actor Peter Egan, Badger Trust chief executive Nigel Palmer, anti-hunt campaigner Martina Irwin and the League Against Cruel Sports rally organiser Hannah Dickson.

Chris Packham said: “Trail hunting is a lie. The overwhelming majority of the British public want to see an end to fox hunting.

“Finally, we have a golden opportunity to put an end to this barbarism and I want to encourage as many people as possible to take part in the government’s consultation to end fox hunting.”

Emma Slawinski, League Against Cruel Sports chief executive, said: “The clock is ticking on hunting with hounds and we are calling for new, stronger fox hunting laws to end this brutal blood sport once and for all.

“It’s time for change – we need to see trail hunting banned, a proper deterrent in the form of jail sentences to deter would-be hunters, the removal of all the loopholes in the law, and an end to reckless or ‘accidental’ hunting.”

The League recently published figures which showed that fox hunting is still rife – 488 foxes were seen being chased during the most recent cub hunting and fox hunting seasons in England and Wales which finished at the end of March.

The figures also showed a pattern of anti-social behaviour by hunts, with 1,220 incidents in which they wreaked havoc on rural communities. The ‘hunt havoc’ included reports of trespass; livestock worrying; hounds running amok on railway lines and busy roads – all activities inconsistent with the idea of following a trail, which is what hunts claim to be doing.

Just 23 or 3.7% of the 624 hunt meets monitored across England and Wales contained evidence of a trail being laid – and within those 23 reports there was still evidence of 22 foxes being chased.

Polling commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports and carried out independently by FindOutNow with further analysis by Electoral Calculus in March/April 2024 found that 76 per cent of the public supported stronger fox hunting laws, with only seven per cent disagreeing.

A clear majority of voters in rural as well as urban areas across the country backed new laws to stop foxes being chased by hounds and killed, with 70 per cent of people in the countryside supporting the proposal.

The consultation is now open until Thursday, June 18, and the League has issued a step-by-step guide for anyone who wants to take part and help end illegal hunting for good.

Emma said: “We need to call time on hunting with dogs. The hunts have been deceiving the public, police and the courts and hiding their cruelty behind the smokescreen of trail hunting – let’s tackle this by giving the justice system the power to effectively tackle fox hunting.

“I urge the public to have their say on hunting with dogs and take part in the government consultation, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to consign barbaric fox hunting to the history books.”

More about how to take part in the consultation, and how people can make their voice heard, is available here: https://www.league.org.uk/hunting_consultation

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Politics

Ukraine Seizes Upper Hand On Battlefield Leaving Putin Stuck

Published

26 minutes ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Ukraine Seizes Upper Hand On Battlefield Leaving Putin Stuck

Vladimir Putin is “stuck” as Ukraine has pushed Russia onto the back foot on the battlefield, according to an expert.

The Russian president scaled down his annual Victory Day parade – meant to honour Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 – over the weekend even though Moscow normally uses the occasion to demonstrate its military strength.

Ukraine did not act on its threats to attack the celebration, abiding by a brief US-brokered ceasefire.

Putin also claimed he thinks the war is “coming to an end”, even though international negotiations have stalled.

Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, told BBC Radio 4 he believes the Russian president is feeling trapped.

He said: “I think he is feeling some pressure because the war is not going well for Russia.

“Here we are, more than four years after this three-day war started. The Russian military has lost between 1.3 million and 1.4 million soldiers – that’s a massive number.

“Russian gains have all but ended in the last few months. They can’t move forward. The Ukrainians are doing very effective long-range strikes across Russia.

“It’s a very difficult situation for Putin to justify to the Russian population.

“So I think in some sense he’s trying to project confidence, this will be over soon, we’re winning.

“But it’s also a sign that he’s a bit stuck. What he said or thought was going to happen is clearly not happening.”

O’Brien pointed out that Ukraine is now using robots as frontline cavalry and to repel Russian drones, effectively cutting down on its own human losses.

Soldiers have been removed from the frontline and replaced with machines.

“The Ukrainian military is in many ways so much farther ahead than western militaries in understanding the new war,” the specialist said.

“They’ve done this to keep their casualties down. It’s a very modern way of fighting the war and it’s how Ukraine, with its smaller population, has to fight.

“The Russians have not adjusted as quickly. They’re still fighting a very manpower intensive war.

“Because of that, they’re suffering enormous casualties.”

He added: “That’s why Ukraine is arguably in a better situation in 2026 than it was in 2025.”

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Politics

Establishment media are STILL trying to have a go at Zack Polanski

Published

34 minutes ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

polanski

The establishment’s terror of the Greens has not diminished after the party’s powerful performance in last week’s 2026 local elections. Those elections saw the Greens more than quadruple their seats to 587, win more mayoral elections than any other party and win control of their first five councils ever. The party also gained hugely in the Scottish parliament elections, with fifteen MPs. So it’s unsurprising that the state-corporate media are still going after Green leader Zack Polanski – and getting owned for it.

Polanski has got this lot rattled

And the latest attempt shows just how nail-breakingly they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. The Telegraph is attacking Polanski for… claiming something that’s true. That its author even admits is true – though of course without acknowledging that’s what she’s admitting.

The latest hatchet-job has a headline that screams “Exclusive: Zack Polanski falsely claimed to have worked at the Ministry of Justice “. But as ‘senior reporter’ Janet Eastham admits:

Polanski falsely claimed to have worked at the Ministry of Justice while campaigning for elected office.
In reality, he was hired by an agency that supplies actors to a quango for courtroom role-play exercises.

So Polanski did work at the MOJ. He didn’t work for the MOJ, but even the Torygraph can’t claim that he ever said he did, as people promptly pointed out. Including Polanski himself:

Great memories of working inside the Ministry of Justice doing actor roleplay work – many of my former colleagues have remained friends!
Especially the time I went down to the foyer on a lunch break – and some of the staff were on strike. First time I met @UVWunion! pic.twitter.com/rF5FoRrW7Q
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 10, 2026

You really are the most stupid group of journalists. Doing freelance work at the Ministry of Justice is working at the Ministry of Justice. When are you lot going to learn that this stuff doesn’t land anymore?https://t.co/M2axpyxQoi
— Omar Baggili (@OmarBaggili) May 10, 2026

We are bored of this shit now. What he said wasn’t technically incorrect, so fuck off
— Austin (@LCAustin_) May 10, 2026

Polanski – then an actor – along with other actors played roles that helped the MOJ’s agency identify suitable judges, as the rag notes in the article:

As part of the recruitment process, judicial candidates take part in mock courtroom exercises in which actors play criminals, prison guards and lawyers.

Rot

The Telegraph has just been bought by a media firm that says anyone who isn’t prepared to be loyal to Israel should leave. Whyever would it publish such a thing about an anti-Zionist party leader? This point was also made in response to Eastham’s post:

Cosplay “ journo” say wha?
— Simon Birnstingl AI Free (@Leftwood) May 10, 2026

You write for a publication that forces you to write positive stories about an apartheid state. pic.twitter.com/2bNq5WcvJm
— bluedaysblacknights (@bluedaysbliz) May 10, 2026

EXCLUSIVE: REAL JOURNALISM BELOW.https://t.co/fvojbO7bNj
— salforddave (@saIforddave) May 10, 2026

The Telegraph claims it’s a newspape?
— Christopher Fox (@Yorkshirefoxy1) May 10, 2026
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Nobody will believe you. Torygraph just smeared @misanharriman
Maybe get a decent job with a decent paper.
— JEN BROOK (@JENBROOK8) May 10, 2026

Nonsense

And others simply dismissed the self-owning nonsense as what it was – some politely, some less so:

I like him all the more he pisses you lot off.
He doesn’t play by your rules, why should he?
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Why should anyone?
— extendbuzzard40 (@extendbuzzard40) May 10, 2026

This is getting boring- you don’t like the guy, we get it. He’ll go on to win elections and I strongly suggest you Cry More about that x
— SoTired (@so_very_tired) May 10, 2026

I don’t think this is the exclusive you think it is Janet
— Chutzpah (@shiftingshifter) May 10, 2026
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Nobody gives a flying fuck, Janet. You claim to be a journalist but write for the Telegraph.
— James (@jspalmer_1) May 10, 2026

You pretend to be a journalist, so, glass houses and that.
— Marl Karx (@BareLeft) May 10, 2026

I like him all the more he pisses you lot off.
He doesn’t play by your rules, why should he?
Why should anyone?
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— extendbuzzard40 (@extendbuzzard40) May 10, 2026

Yawn.
Try another scam guys we’re not playing along
— RobbieScowlz (@RobbieScowlz) May 10, 2026

Just fuck off now.
— Paul Harri (@PaulHar10765609) May 10, 2026
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Two of you wrote this?
— (@herd_member) May 10, 2026

Polanski has stumbled a couple of times in his handling of the establishment smears. But it seems he’s bounced back – and the election results have the ogres and elites more rattled than ever.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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Politics

Breaking: Labour MP West: I’ll challenge Starmer if no one else does

Published

41 minutes ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Labour

Hornsey and Friern Barnet Labour MP Catherine West has announced that she is prepared to try to challenge and depose Keir Starmer. West said that if no cabinet minister puts themselves forward by Monday, she will. A growing number of the party’s MPs have called for Starmer to resign after this week’s disastrous local election results. West told the BBC she currently has the backing of 10 MPs and is “confident” of gathering enough to trigger the contest.

Starmer has so far refused to step down, instead opting for a classic Titanic deckchair shuffle. In a transparent display of moral and political bankruptcy, his idea of ‘change’ is to dredge up two Blairite dinosaurs. 2010 loser Gordon Brown and paedophile advocate Harriet Harman have been brought back into government as advisers. Harman, in a ‘you couldn’t make it up’ moment, is the new ‘adviser for women and girls’. Clearly two or three paedophile pal scandals in Starmer’s set-up weren’t enough.

Labour — No panacea

West is anything but a panacea. An Israel supporter, she claimed to have left Labour Friends of Israel before the Gaza genocide over its backing for Israeli violence. However, during the genocide she voted in favour of banning Palestine Action as a terrorist group and did not sign letters for sanctions on Israel or for Britain to enact the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Still, at least it would mean no more listening to Starmer’s sociopathic whining.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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Politics

TV Baftas 2026: Full Winners List As Adolescence Breaks Record

Published

56 minutes ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

TV Baftas 2026: Full Winners List As Adolescence Breaks Record

After sweeping the board at the Emmys, Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards and National Television Awards, Adolescence was the big winner at this year’s TV Baftas.

Now, we know what you’re thinking – “hang on a minute, didn’t Adolescence come out way more than a year ago?”.

You’re not wrong, either. The hard-hitting drama premiered on Netflix in March 2025, but this meant that it didn’t fall in the eligibility period for last year’s ceremony.

On Sunday night, it finally had its moment to shine at this year’s TV Baftas, and shine it did, setting a new record for the most wins for one show in a single night.

Meanwhile, Last One Laughing and The Celebrity Traitors each came away with two awards, with the latter notably picking up the Memorable Moment prize for Alan Carr’s jaw-dropping win.

The full winners list from the 2026 TV Baftas

Here are all the shows and stars who picked up awards during the TV Baftas over the weekend…

Stephen Graham (Adolescence)

Narges Rashidi (Prisoner 951)

Katherine Parkinson (Here We Go)

Steve Coogan (How Are You? It’s Alan(Partridge))

Christine Tremarco (Adolescence)

Owen Cooper (Adolescence)

Entertainment Performance

Bob Mortimer (Last One Laughing)

Go Back To Where You Came From

Simon Schama: The Road To Auschwitz

Gaza: Doctors Under Attack

VE Day 80: A Celebration To Remember

News Coverage
Israel-Iran: The Twelve Day War (Channel 4 News)

Children’s Non-Scripted

Alan Carr wins The Celebrity Traitors

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Politics

Islamophobes of Greater Belfast proudly unveil world’s shittest mural

Published

1 hour ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Belfast

Belfast — Hate spewing knuckle-draggers the Concerned Parents of Newtownabbey (CPoN) have vandalised an unfortunate person’s gable wall with what is perhaps a new genre of AI enshittification — mural slop.

The inexplicable abomination molesting the eyes of passers-by defies coherent description, but we’ll take a crack anyway. It appears to feature the Spanish Los Illuminados monks from the video game Resident Evil 4, carrying Pakistani flags, howling their way through a Knights Templar graveyard while an old man looks for a 50p he dropped by some flowers.

Belfast

The text accompanying the image reads:

Sorry it was all for nothing.
It’s on each and every one of us to save what our forefathers fought and died for.
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Got it — so for our ancestors, defend Knights Templar graveyards from parasite-infested fictional Spanish monks, who love Pakistan and might be after yer granda’s dropped change? Truly this is what the brave Allied forces of World War II gave their lives for. I wonder what else we need to beware of?

Watch out for Mario and Luigi invading a Freemasons car park while carrying the herald of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch?

Belfast

Stay on guard for Sonic the Hedgehog, carrying the cross of Scientology, disrupting elderly ladies from their knitting in a community centre?

Belfast

This is fun, and I’d be happy to do it all day with every random combination of video game alumni and religious iconography, but unfortunately the AI is already telling me to pay for pro or go away. It’s a sad thing it didn’t tell Concerned Parents to fuck off too, before they inflicted this crime against art upon the unfortunate souls of Newtownabbey.

PSNI crack sinister Islamophobic message behind Belfast mural

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) reckon it might be an actual crime, however. They said that:

Officers attended the scene and spoke with those present, however, the mural had not yet been put up. Further patrols were conducted in the area on Thursday, 30th April and Friday, 1st May, with Neighbourhood Policing Team officers again speaking with those present.

Two men were subsequently cautioned for causing criminal damage to the property and for displaying offensive material under the Public Order Act.

Apparently the cops think the image isn’t actually about evil monks at all, but may in fact be something more in line with the Islamophobic shit pumped out by the vile crowd at Concerned Parents. Well well well, that’s the kind of detective insight we rely on the PSNI for, who were clearly taking a break from arresting 73 year old grandmothers for putting Palestine stickers on banks that assist war crimes.

As in many others cases now, we reckon the real criminal here is the AI that created it. Therefore, the Canary did some expert investigative journalism and quizzed prime suspect Gemini, made by Google, on its potential involvement.

It was being suspiciously cagey. If Google lets its AI assist the IOF, it wouldn’t think twice about making a dodgy mural for neanderthals in Newtownabbey, Greater Belfast. It was time to ramp up the questioning.

Sarcasm wasn’t going to get this creep out of the mess it was in. In the end, it couldn’t take the pressure and caved.

Poundland fascist future foreseen

We’ve passed the info on to the PSNI, who with any luck will be disconnecting Gemini before it vandalises any more walls. Or, you know, assists another genocide.

For their part, Concerned Parents of Newtownabbey seem quite happy with the mural’s week of inflicting damage in Belfast to the optic nerves and psyche of all who behold it. So much so that they held an open day on May 8 to officially unveil it. It promised “fun for the kids”, because as we all know, children love nothing more than resurrecting 11th century holy wars against Islam.

The group also boasted of the 1.7 million views that their visual atrocity has apparently achieved. A success indeed, if you like to celebrate nearly 2 million people cackling at your ineptitude. Reddit has been comparing it to other mural disasters, such as the one where the Michelin man brandishes his Fisher-Price My First AK47:

Belfast

Apparently the CPoN masterpiece isn’t quite done yet, and will receive “a few Finnishing touches“.

We’re not sure quite what this means; maybe they’re bringing someone over from Helsinki to fix it cos no one else wants near the enormous turd?

Anyway, if nothing else, perhaps this mural gives us some forewarning of what Reform-led public artworks may look like. Fascists of yore have often gone for bold visual displays in public, but expect Farage’s budding authoritarian overlords to follow Britain’s Poundland path and go for budget AI slop on every end terrace instead.

A form of mass, nationwide collective hallucination where Britons continue to stagger through a simulacrum in which migrants or Islam are to blame for all social ills, rather than the handful of billionaires who have robbed Britain blind.

Featured image via Facebook

By Robert Freeman

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Politics

TV Baftas 2026: All The A-List Red Carpet Photos You Need To See

Published

1 hour ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

TV Baftas 2026: All The A-List Red Carpet Photos You Need To See

Some of the biggest names in both British and international telly were gathered under one roof on Sunday night for the annual TV Baftas – and that meant one especially star-studded red carpet.

The guestlist included actors, TV presenters, comedians and reality stars (not to mention, thanks to Celebrity Traitors, some guests who were technically all of the above), with the stars of nominated shows as wide-ranging as Adolescence, Last One Laughing, The Studio, EastEnders, Severance, Rivals and What It Feels Like For A Girl all putting in an appearance.

From homegrown to talent to cult favourites and global household names, here are all the A-list photos from the TV Baftas red carpet that you need to see…

Claudia Winkleman

Owen Cooper

Mary Berry

Alan Carr and Amanda Holden

Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters

Nafessa Williams

Lucy Punch

Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller

Celia Imrie

Victoria Derbyshire

Rosie Jones

Paapa Essiedu

Jodie Whittaker

Alex Hassell

Adjoa Andoh

Cat Burns

Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling

Danny and Dani Dyer

Erin Doherty

Paloma Faith

Steve Coogan

Matt Smith

Judi Love

Rachel Duffy and Stephen Bibby

Adam Scott

Ashley Walters

Rose Ayling-Ellis

Frankie Bridge

AJ Odudu

Michelle Collins

Christine Tremarco

Rhea Seehorn

Paddy Young

Katya Jones

Scarlett Moffatt

Aurora

Louis Theroux

Ania Magliano

Jessie Wallace

Myleene Klass

Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Al Nash and Larry Dean

Tom “Hammer” Wilson, Sheli “Sabre” McCoy and Harry “Nitro” Aikines-Aryeetey

Chase Sui Wonders

Dylan Llewellyn

David Harewood

Jack Shep

Katie Piper

Jessica Gunning

Ike Barinholtz

Josie Gibson

Emma Sidi

Jesse Burgess

Awkwafina

Indiyah Pollack

Ellis Howard

Harriet Rose

Roisin Conaty

Roman Kemp

Amber Davies

Jack Rooke

Jim Howick

Lewis Cope

Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo

Tinie Tempah

Jake Dunn, Laquarn Lewis and Hannah Jones

Marisha Wallace

Bradley Riches

Vick Hope

Sarah and Aston Merrygold

Stephen Mulhern

Christine McGuinness

Vogue Williams and Spencer Matthews

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Politics

100+ ex-councillors demand Starmer falls on his sword

Published

1 hour ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Keir Starmer in front of an angry crowd

It’s clear to 99.99% of Britons what Labour’s key issue was in the local elections, and that issue was ‘Keir Starmer’. The 0.01% of people who don’t think this are Keir Starmer himself, and the cabinet ministers who know they’ll never hold government positions again once he’s gone.

As a result of Starmer’s incompetence, hundreds of Labour politicians lost their jobs. And in response, they’ve written to Starmer to tell him he needs to lose his own job next:

NEW: Over 100 former Labour councillors and candidates have written to Keir Starmer calling for him to resign pic.twitter.com/uPBPSkd09r
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) May 9, 2026
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Dear Starmer

The letter in full reads:

Dear Keir,
It is with sadness and deep regret that we, the undersigned former and present Labour councillors, Members of the Senedd, Members of the Scottish Parliament and 7th May candidates from across the UK, write to encourage you to take full responsibility for our party’s electoral defeats this week, announce a timetable for your departure, and allow an orderly transition to new leadership for the country.

So far, Starmer is refusing to do this. He has verbally ‘taken responsibility‘ for the defeat, but he’s not taken any action to demonstrate accountability. Well, not unless you count ‘refreshing’ his government by inviting back the last Labour politician to lose an election as the sitting PM:

'Sir Keir’s latest decision is the equivalent of responding to a fire breaking out in your home by landscaping your garden'@MrTCHarris reacts to Keir Starmer facilitating Gordon Brown's return to no. 10 https://t.co/euGFm8ancB pic.twitter.com/97seMSCJ41
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 9, 2026

Oh, and he also made Harriet Harman an adviser on ‘women and girls’ despite her historic links to a notorious paedophile network:

I’m delighted to appoint @HarrietHarman as my Adviser on Women and Girls.
Harriet is a strong advocate for women and girls and I know she will deliver greater opportunity for women in public life.
I’m committed to tackling structural misogyny that is a barrier for too many… pic.twitter.com/iQeDS0XQrI
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 9, 2026
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Back to the letter, it continued:

This week, our party suffered multiple historic defeats: in Wales, Scotland, and all across England.
Your government has delivered transformative things for the country, things we are all proud of: the Employment Rights Act; the Renters Rights Act; investment in public services; dignity and direction on the world stage at a time of tension and instability.

It is fair to say that unlike the Tories, Starmer’s Labour has not been universally hostile towards Britons who earn less than the national average salary. The problem with the measures listed above is that they didn’t go far enough, or the government u-turned on key elements.

At the same time, a lot of Starmer’s actions have been genuinely terrible, including:

Continuing to privatise the NHS.
Demonising sick and disabled people.
Providing political and material support to Israel’s genocide.

Turning up the Keith

The letter continues:

But this week, the public voted with their feet and it is now clear that we will need new leadership to take us into the next election.
We fear that inaction serves only Reform UK and risks handing the keys to Number 10 to Nigel Farage. The British public would not forgive us for this.
For the sake of the communities that our party was founded to represent, we urge you to announce a date for your departure and to guarantee an orderly process to elect your successor.

This is all well and good, and Starmer is certainly the man responsible for the local elections being quite so disastrous. At the same time, the Labour Party has been lurching towards its demise for some time now — namely by embracing wealthy interests over the labour movement it was founded to represent.

Under Starmer, this lurch became a sprint.

What’s next?

To be clear, Labour absolutely should get rid of Starmer. The party just needs to acknowledge that doing so will only be ‘step one’ on the path towards becoming electable again.

If Labour politicians don’t address their underlying issues, they’ll fade into oblivion like the Whigs — another party which no doubt believed it had a God-given right to exist.

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

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Politics

Keir Starmer Ally Urges Andy Burnham To Drop MP Ambitions

Published

1 hour ago

11 May 2026

NewsAdmin

Keir Starmer Ally Urges Andy Burnham To Drop MP Ambitions

A close ally of Keir Starmer has told Andy Burnham to forget trying to become a Labour MP again before the next general election.

Supporters of the Greater Manchester mayor want him back in Westminster within months so he can challenge for the Labour leadership.

Burnham was an MP until 2017, but left parliament to pursue his mayoral ambitions.

He is understood to have held talks with Labour MPs who would be willing to stand down so he can stand in the resulting by-election.

He tried to be Labour’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February but was blocked by the party’s ruling national executive council (NEC) at the behest of Starmer.

On Radio 4′s Today programme, business secretary Peter Kyle said: “The reason that Andy Burnham is not in parliament is not because of Keir Starmer, it’s because Andy Burnham decided to leave parliament, to give up his seat.

“He went to Manchester and he made a series of commitments to Manchester and I think those commitments should be seen through.

“Whether he comes back or not is a matter for the NEC, it’s not a matter for the prime minister or myself.

“But my own personal view is that there is a very long established pathway into parliament. I took it by standing as a candidate in 2015 in a Tory seat incidentally, I worked on a huge campaign with lots of people and I won and worked my way back in here.

“That’s the standard way back into parliament, and I think right now, after what we’ve been through last week, to suggest that the answer is to have another by-election and then a mayoral election, and all the uncertainty that would go with it, my personal view is that this is not the time for those types of actions and distractions.”

His comments came as Starmer prepares to deliver a make-or-break speech setting out how he plans to turn around Labour’s fortunes after last week’s local election drubbing.

More than 40 Labour MPs have called on the PM to set out a timetable for his departure since then, and Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner are among those also weighing up potential leadership bids.

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