Vanessa Feltz has admitted that the news of her daytime show’s cancellation came out of the blue.
Last year, the veteran broadcaster began fronting the talk show Vanessa on 5 (previously known as Channel 5), in which she and a celebrity panel discuss topical issues and speak to viewers calling into the studio.
Last week, 5 confirmed on Thursday that Vanessa was being pulled from next month.
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“Due to afternoon scheduling changes, Vanessa will be rested from 17 July,” a spokesperson said. “We thank Vanessa and her team at ITN for 18 months of warm, witty, wise and searingly honest shows.”
Vanessa broke her silence on the news during Saturday’s edition of her LBC show, telling her listeners: “It was a bit of a shock. It was meant to be a delightful year’s contract, the show was going really well…
“I was shocked to the core and very upset and I still am. It was only Wednesday at 3 o’clock that I found out.”
Vanessa went on to claim that it was 5 owners Paramount who made the decision, as they “want to show Paramount movies every afternoon” in her timeslot, because it “doesn’t cost them any money”.
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A 5 spokesperson added last week: “Vanessa remains a valued member of the Channel 5 family and we are discussing future projects together.”
Prior to landing her own 5 series, Vanessa had been a regular face on This Morning.
She previously told Metro that she “would happily have stayed” part of This Morning’s on-air team “and gone on the back of a motorbike from the This Morning studio straight to 5 and done both”.
“I almost believed I’d be able to do that, but I think apparently, it’s not the way it’s done,” she added. “But I’d have done it, and I think they would have been happy for me to do it too.”
Wes Streeting has rallied behind Andy Burnham and abandoned his leadership bid in a sensational statement.
Streeting previously vowed to run in a contest to replace Starmer, having resigned as health secretary at the peak of Labour’s leadership crisis in May 2026.
In a statement, Streeting said Burnham had shown “what Labour can be when we are inclusive”.
Keir Starmer led us to a general election victory that no one thought possible. He kept us out of the war in Iran and has delivered real progress as Prime Minister at home. He has made the right decision to stand down as the Leader of the Labour Party that he saved.
After a devastating set of election results in May, the Makerfield by-election has proven that Labour can still win if we have the courage to change. It was a victory for unity and hope over division and hatred.
It was also Andy Burnham’s victory. Andy has shown what Labour can be when we are inclusive, united, and in touch with the lives of the people this Party was founded to represent.
I left the Government because we were losing the fight to nationalists in every corner of the country. I have spent the weeks since speaking to our former councillors, activists and voters in place we lost – to listen and learn from them.
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I’ve also been setting out ideas to change our country: a plan for Britain to grow again and grow together, with a progressive capitalism focused on wealth creation as much as wealth distribution; to lead the world in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and protect people from its risks; to modernise our public services; to give Britain energy security; to build stronger alliances with democracies around the world and a new Special Relationship with Europe; and to change the culture of our Party so that it is more inclusive and open to ideas.
Having spoken at length with Andy in recent days, I’m convinced that there is a place for those ideas under his leadership; that he is committed to building an inclusive party that draws on the best of our political traditions; and that he can win the fight of our lives against the forces of nationalism.
We could spend the summer exaggerating small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help him to deliver the change our Party and our country needs. That is the choice that I am making and I hope that everyone else will back Andy, too.
We were elected change our country, to show that politics can be a force for good, and to spread opportunity for everyone. With Andy, we still can.
Nottingham Mencap have seen energy bills decrease 82 per cent since installing solar panels
Charity electricity bills have risen by 12 per cent since the start of the Iran war, and decisions on the £3.3bn Warm Homes Fund could make or break struggling community spaces
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Analysis by Cornwall Insight reveals that electricity costs for charities have surged 12 per cent in just four months and will not return to pre-war levels for the rest of the decade1.
Jacob Briggs, Energy Users Lead at Cornwall Insight, says: “The burden is falling on some of the most resource constrained organisations in the country and, without intervention, charities and community groups could face years of sustained high electricity costs”.
The findings come as Ministers weigh how to spend £3.3bn of unallocated funding in the Warm Homes Plan. Charity funder Social Investment Business (SIB) is calling for a portion to be ring-fenced for community buildings at the heart of the most deprived areas.
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These spaces underpin Labour’s missions for national renewal, delivering youth work, neighbourhood health, nurseries, hospice care and food banks. Yet a chronic lack of investment has left them in a poor state and over-exposed to volatile energy markets: over the past five years community buildings have improved energy efficiency at half the rate of other non-domestic buildings such as shops and offices1.
Genevieve Maitland Hudson, Deputy Chief Executive at SIB, said the Warm Homes Fund presented a “unique opportunity” to cut bills in the buildings at the heart of communities, but warned it “must be grasped with urgency” and would only work with targeted support.
The Warm Welcome Campaign, a network of nearly 6,000 community spaces, reinforce the need to act quickly. More than one in five (23 per cent) of their warm spaces are already struggling to pay energy bills while more than half (53 per cent) are worried about the future impact of further bill increases1.
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David Barclay, Campaign Director at Warm Welcome Campaign, added: “As energy bills continue to rise, the window for intervention is narrowing. Without action, we risk losing the services and spaces communities depend on, and which cannot easily be rebuilt.”
Change is possible
SIB, the non-profit funder and social investor, is already investing £15m to strengthen the energy resilience of charities, demonstrating what targeted support from the Warm Homes Fund could achieve at scale.
Higher Folds Community Centre and Nursery in Leigh, Greater Manchester, provides childcare, work-related training, and an in-house grocery shop to help residents access affordable food. It remains a trusted hub for local families, supporting both day-to-day needs and longer-term wellbeing. Before securing SIB’s support, manager David Rainford recalls “We were in big trouble. If costs stayed that high, we were going to be out of business”. Following the installation of rooftop solar, he adds “we’re now looking at saving just over £1,000 per month”.
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Nottingham Mencap have supported people with learning disabilities in their community for over 70 years. Following SIB’s investment for solar panels and a battery system, CEO Danny Hewis said, “Since the work has been completed, we’ve seen an 82% decrease in our energy bills”.
Charities and community organisations operate on marginal budgets in some of the least energy efficient buildings in England. Without intervention, sustained high energy costs pose a direct threat to frontline services.
A dedicated allocation from the Warm Homes Fund – designed as repayable investment, not grant funding – could unlock a radical overhaul to the buildings that anchor communities, safeguard the future of their services, and strengthen the foundations for national and local renewal.
Keir Starmer has announced that he will resign as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party.
In a speech delivered on Downing Street this morning, Starmer said that he accepted the verdict of his party with “good grace”.
The outgoing prime minister’s voice cracked with emotion as he paid tribute to his wife, Victoria, and his sons.
Starmer said: “When I leave the biggest job in the country, I shall spend more time on the most important job, being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife, Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad, and being the best dad I can to my beautiful children, who are my pride and my joy.”
The statement came after Starmer spent the weekend at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat, to mull his political future.
Starmer said that he came into politics to “change the lives of millions of people for the better” and he inherited the Labour Party in 2020 in a “morally” bankrupt state.
Starmer maintained that he had changed his party and achieved a majority at the 2024 general election that many considered to be “impossible”.
He stated: “But we proved those people wrong. Because we changed our party. Ripping out the poison of antisemitism, restoring trust on the economy, defence and national security and becoming a party that once again stood proudly with not against our national flag.”
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Starmer went on to list a series of his achievements during his time in power.
He declared: “An economy that is stronger, going faster than our peers, wages rising faster, an end to austerity, NHS waiting lists falling faster than at any time in 17 years…
“And half a million people being lifted out of poverty because of the choices that I made. And our reputation on the world stage restored.”
He added: “I know the question being asked of us now is not who was best-placed to change the Labour Party to take us into power and to begin the vital work of improving lives for millions of people.
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“Those questions have been answered. The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election.
“I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party loud and clear and I accept that answer with good grace.”
Starmer said that nominations would open for the election of his successor on 9 July.
He said: “In the case of a contest, this will ensure a new leader is in place before parliament returns in September. I will remain in post as prime minister until the contest is complete and I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power.”
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Despite years of reform and promises of improvement, businesses and households still face patchy coverage, unreliable signal and mobile not-spots. Networks that deliver connectivity are built through thousands of rental agreements between operators and the farmers, businesses, charities, churches, local authorities and public bodies that host telecoms infrastructure. Better coverage means more mast sites, as Ofcom itself recognises, to tackle local coverage gaps and meet growing demand.
Yet nearly one in five existing mast hosts now face “renegotiation” of their rental agreements under a coercive framework that empowers operators to boost their profits by slashing rents paid for sites. Instead of stimulating the supply required, this is generating more legal disputes in nine years than in the previous three decades combined. Without willing site providers, there are no mast sites. Without mast sites, there is no connectivity.
How did we get here? The previous government replaced market-based rental valuations with a framework specifically designed to reduce operator costs and, it was supposed, accelerate rollout. However, subsequent events bear out warnings at the time that the unilateral powers given to operators and infrastructure builders, in particular, simply to impose drastic rent reductions on site providers, and then use the results as comparables, have turned previously cooperative relationships adversarial.
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No one disputes the power imbalance between operators and site owners, but not only have Ministers chosen to ignore the evidence of the resulting negative sentiment among site owners towards hosting mobile infrastructure, but they are actually making it worse.
When Parliament passed the PSTI Act, it included Section 70, which was designed to provide an independent escalation route when disputes arise and allow consideration of operator conduct. Yet section 70 remains unimplemented.
Most regulatory frameworks that grant significant statutory powers also provide a mechanism for complaints, dispute resolution and independent oversight. The Electronic Communications Code stands largely alone in lacking such safeguards. Not only do site owners face coercive strategies, but they do not even have an independent mechanism to call out the operators’ tactics.
Meanwhile, operators, engaging land agents as their enforcers, threaten site-owners with the Act’s performative dispute mechanism backed with court action, which they know site-owners can neither afford nor win – yet some refuse to be coerced. I have direct experience of a family farm where this is playing out currently, and I have met others in the same situation.
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Poor connectivity comes at a substantial cost. The UK ranks 61st in the world for mobile performance, with London reportedly the worst-connected major European city. According to the Centre for British Progress, poor connectivity costs the economy around £785 million a year – lost productivity, delayed investment and businesses that cannot rely on a basic service.
That is precisely the lesson of the UK’s experience since the Electronic Communications Code was reformed in 2017. Yet rather than pause and assess whether the framework is working, the Government chose to extend it to thousands more sites through the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act- expanding the stick, while leaving the safeguards on the shelf.
The scale of this is significant. FOI figures from DSIT confirm between 12 per cent and 18 per cent of existing agreements will be affected – meaning nearly one in five mast hosts face renegotiation under a framework already proven deeply contentious. As a result, Notices to Quit (NTQs) from site providers to dismantle mobile infrastructure from their properties for redevelopment purposes are booming to the extent that Virgin Media O2 recently announced they are losing sites in London at a faster pace than they can be replaced.
What is needed? First, a proper review is needed on the impact of the code and, in particular, a more balanced rental valuation method, so that the interests of operators and site providers are ultimately aligned. Good regulation should reinforce that, not undermine it. Better conduct and fairer distribution of value means fewer disputes. Fewer disputes mean fewer NTQs and faster deployment. Fewer NTQs and faster deployment mean better coverage. Second, by establishing a formal role in considering complaints where operators fail to comply with the industry’s Code of Practice, Section 70 would create at least an independent escalation route when disputes arise.
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Britain does not need to choose between connectivity and fairness. Faster rollout and better relationships are complementary, not competing objectives. The Government should restore a better balance of power between site-owners and operators, commence Section 70 immediately and review – through an evidence-based impact assessment – whether the post-2017 framework is delivering the cooperation, investment, network deployment and connectivity improvements it was originally designed to achieve.
Britain’s connectivity challenge will not be solved through confrontation. It will be solved when policy once again encourages partnership.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has shared a post celebrating “the power of yoga for healthy ageing”, as part of its International Day Of Yoga (21 June).
The WHO’s director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on X: “As people live longer, our goal is not just more years, but better years. Yoga supports this through gentle movement, breathing and mindfulness.”
A 2021 review of yoga studies found that “while everyone should consult their physician before starting a physical regimen, yoga appears to have a wide range of benefits including increased mobility, reduced risk for slip and fall, protection against cognitive decline, increased flexibility, strength, and balance, and improved sleep and mental well-being”.
Gentle yoga may be a better option for cognitive benefits, the 2021 review reads, while more strenuous Hatha practices might help to improve your strength, fitness, and flexibility.
How much yoga do I need to do a week to see benefits?
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Three hours a week, or just over 25 minutes a day, was linked to better results in one paper.
But the 2021 review noted that in many of the studies involved, participants saw benefits at just 45 minutes a week.
Heatstroke can be dangerous and come on more quickly than you realise. With temperatures rocketing, it’s important to know how to recognise the signs.
Spending too much time in the heat or overly exerting yourself in the sun can cause heatstroke.
During the heatwaves we’ve increasingly experienced in recent years, health officials have reiterated how important it is to prevent children and older people from falling victim to the high temperatures.
But do you know how to tell heat exhaustion from heatstroke?
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What are the symptoms of heat exhaustion?
Heat exhaustion is what happens when the body overheats and cannot cool down.
It usually doesn’t require emergency medical attention, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), as long as you can cool yourself down within 30 minutes.
If you do not take action to cool down, heat exhaustion can lead to heatstroke, which is a lot more serious.
What are the symptoms of heatstroke?
Heatstroke is where the body is no longer able to cool down and your body’s temperature becomes dangerously high.
Common symptoms of heatstroke include:
confusion
lack of co-ordination
fast heartbeat
fast breathing or shortness of breath
hot skin that is not sweating
seizures
Heatstroke is a medical emergency. If you think someone has heatstroke you should dial 999 and then try to cool them down.
How to treat heat exhaustion
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Dr Luke Powles from Bupa Health Clinics said people exhibiting symptoms should be cooled down. “Move them into a cool place, get them to lie down and put their feet up,” he explained. “Give them plenty of water and cool their skin with a cold pack, or towel.”
It might also help to remove unnecessary items of clothing like socks. You could also fan them to try and cool them down.
The person should start feeling better within 30 minutes – if not, it is very important to seek medical help immediately.
How to prevent heat exhaustion and heatstroke
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Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of cool drinks, but avoid alcohol. It’s also beneficial to keep cool by: wearing light fabrics, avoiding the sun between 11am and 3pm, sprinkling water over your skin and taking cool showers.
Avoid exercising and try to keep your home cool by closing curtains and windows, and turn off electrical equipment or lights.
When to get urgent help
If heatstroke symptoms progress to the ones listed below – or the person is no better after 30 minutes – you should call 999:
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They feel hot and dry.
They aren’t sweating even though they are too hot. Their skin might also look red – this can be harder to spot on brown and Black skin, according to the NHS.
They have a very high temperature that’s risen to 40°C or above.
They have rapid breathing or shortness of breath.
They’re confused.
They have a fit (seizure).
They lose consciousness (if this happens, put them in the recovery position while you wait for help).
Keir Starmer has set out a timetable for his departure from No.10 after resigning as prime minister.
In a statement delivered on Downing Street on Monday morning, the prime minister said his party has been asked if he is best placed to lead us into the next general election.
“I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question and I accept that answer with good grace,” he said. “Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first.
“That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.
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“I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision.”
Starmer said the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party will set out a timetable to make sure a new leader is in place by the time parliament returns after its summer recess.
Nominations will open for the leadership on July 9, a week before parliament’s summer recess, and if there is a contest, it will be completed by September 1 when MPs return to Westminster.
Until then he will remain in post as prime minister, Starmer said.
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“I will give my successor my full and unequivocal support,” he said.
Tearing up, the prime minister said he will focus on the “most important job”, adding: “Being the best husband I can, to my fantastic wife Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad.”
He continued: “And being the best dad that I can to my beautiful children, who are my pride and joy.”
The prime minister’s announcement comes after Andy Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election last Friday.
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The soon-to-be-former Greater Manchester mayor is Starmer’s greatest rival and has had his eye on the keys to No.10 for some time.
Burnham was widely expected to challenge Starmer’s leadership after winning the contest for the north-west seat.
Labour Party rules state only an MP with the support of 81 other MPs can fire the starting gun on a leadership challenge.
Burnham had been pushing for Starmer to step down quietly so it would be a coronation for the new Makerfield MP.
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The prime minister initially refused, saying he would fight on.
Asked if he would stand in any possible leadership election on Friday morning, Starmer said “there isn’t one at the moment” and that holding one would send “the country into chaos”.
But he added: “If there is a contest, then yes I will run, I will stand, and I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”
However, pressure from his own cabinet ministers appears to have moved the needle.
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Two former cabinet ministers, Wes Streeting and John Healey, also quit over Starmer’s leadership in the last month.
Business and trade secretary Peter Kyle revealed his boss was weighing up the “political realities” in the coming days on Sunday.
It now remains to be seen if anyone other than Burnham will throw their hat into the ring to be the next Labour leader.
Streeting, the former health secretary, did indicate he would run but there are concerns he does not have enough backing from Labour MPs to run.
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Keir Starmer has announced that he will resign as Prime Minister this summer.
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Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Monday morning, Starmer said he had accepted the wishes of Labour MPs with “good grace” and that he would help facilitate an “orderly transition” for his successor.
Starmer said he had informed the King this morning that he had resigned as Labour Party leader, triggering a process to replace him that will begin in early July.
Andy Burnham, who won a landslide victory at last week’s Makerfield by-election, is expected to take over.
In an address to the nation, Starmer said “the question” his party was now asking was who was best placed to lead it into the next general election, and that the answer was no longer him.
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“I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”
Starmer said entering No 10 two years after winning the 2024 general election was the “proudest moment of my life”.
“A new Labour government. The first in 14 years. A page in our country’s history turned after years of disappointment and despair. The chance to change the lives of millions of people for the better.
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“That’s what I came into politics for.”
He added: “I will also give my successor my full and unequivocal support, knowing that they will inherit a Britain that is far stronger and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago, better prepared for the challenges ahead and better able to ensure the Labour Party secures a second term in office.”
Starmer’s position has been under pressure for months, with painful local election results and his handling of the Lord Mandelson affair prompting Labour MPs to question his leadership.
While many Labour MPs would like Burnham to take over unchallenged, others would prefer a leadership contest, particularly those who are sceptical about the former Manchester mayor running the country.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting has previously said he would stand in a leadership contest.
Starmer became Labour Party leader in 2020 and led the party to its first general election victory in nearly two decades in 2024.
His resignation means the UK will soon have its seventh prime minister in a decade.
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He finished his speech by paying tribute to his family.
“When I leave the biggest job in the country, I shall spend more time on the most important job, being the best husband I can to my fantastic wife, Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad, and being the best dad I can to my beautiful children, who are my pride and my joy.”
Labour MP Lauren Edwards has brought the assisted-dying debate back to Westminster, reintroducing the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The bill received its first reading in the House of Commons last Wednesday, formally marking its return to parliament.
The legislation, first introduced in 2024 by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, ran out of time in the House of Lords earlier this year. Supporters of the bill accused opponents in the Lords of deliberately blocking it by tabling more than 1,200 amendments.
There are substantial difficulties for Edwards, who must present the exact same bill if she wants the Parliament Act of 1911 and 1949 to come into effect. These acts allow for the same legislation, if passed in the House of Commons in consecutive parliamentary sessions, to automatically become law.
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For proponents and organisations like Dignity in Dying (DiD), which have spearheaded the campaign to legalise assisted suicide and written many an MP’s cliché-ridden speech, this is a long shot. Their strategy is to maintain the moral high ground by insisting that democracy has been thwarted by the bill’s original failure to pass.
Invoking the Parliament Act for a private members’ bill is near enough unprecedented. In fact, it has only been used seven times in British history. Clearly, the assisted-suicide lobby is getting desperate.
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Let’s remind ourselves of some of the problems with the bill. Doctors remain free to raise the possibility of assisted suicide with patients, thus opening the door to coercion. Clinicians have warned that hospices could be forced to close if they do not wish to have people killed on their premises. And despite Leadbeater claiming the bill has the ‘strongest safeguards anywhere in the world’, it even allows for private companies to profit from killing people.
Then there’s the key problem with legislation of this ilk. Inevitably, the scope of who can apply for assisted dying will broaden from beyond what is laid down in law. This is the lesson from every jurisdiction where it has been introduced. Regardless of what Leadbeater, or now Edwards, might have to say, assisted suicide will become available to everyone, for every reason under the Sun.
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Take Canada. Ten years ago, it established euthanasia and assisted suicide only for those with ‘reasonably foreseeable’ deaths under its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) programme. MAID was expanded to all people with permanent disabilities in 2021 and is set to expand to those suffering from mental illness next year. Since MAID was introduced a decade ago 100,000 people have been given lethal injections. That means that more Canadians have been killed under MAID laws than during the Second World War. Do we want that for the UK?
Unsurprisingly, the thought of raising this zombie bill from the dead is causing concern among professional organisations. The Royal College of Physicians, neutral on assisted dying, has been forced to reiterate its concerns about the bill. Hospice UK has also criticised the bill’s reemergence, especially ‘at a time when hospice and palliative care is under strain’.
None of this touches on the biggest difficulty Edwards faces – namely, that parliament itself is increasingly hostile to a re-run of this debate. Clearly, a lot has changed in the two years since Leadbeater’s first bill emerged. Not only is Starmer’s authority shattered, his likely successor – Andy Burnham – is also unlikely to go anywhere near such a divisive issue. Besides, former prominent supporters of the bill, such as Louise Haigh, Ian Murray and Jeremy Hunt, have all criticised any attempt to use the Parliament Act to revive assisted dying. Former public-health minister Ashley Dalton – who herself is terminally ill with cancer – said: ‘We have debated this deeply divisive and flawed assisted-dying bill for over a year and supporters have refused to listen or to make the necessary changes.’
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The last word should surely belong to Tory MP Simon Hoare, who, when it was announced that the bill would return, shouted: ‘Oh, not again!’
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