Ruby Rae’s Country Bar is to open its doors on Thursday. August 6 in the former Jalou nightclub on Bridge Street.

Dean Saunders, co- founder of the Newcastle-based company, says he has ‘loved’ York for years.

He told the Press: “I have been coming down to York for years. I used toi come when the church contained Jalou. When I knew the building was available, an opening in York was a no brainer.”

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Dan Cooke, Twinnie-Lee Moore and Dean Saunders open up the former Jalou. (Image: Jake Usman)

Dean says he has been working on developing the York site since February, which will be inspired by the world-famous Ryman stage in Nashville.

The venue will open Thursday to Sunday.

It will be situated a few doors away from York’s other main country and western-themed venue, the recently-opened Silver Spur in Bridge Street, and a short walk away from FortyFive Vinyl Café in Micklegate.

Clive Johnson Horsemanship and the team. (Image: Jake Usman)

Dean continued: “A lot of people who come to our Newcastle venue, they say they love the atmosphere. It’s a predominately female crowd, a about 65 per cent. People love the idea of dancing and dressing up. They might not initially be into country music but they might get converted.”

In the renovations of the former church, all the floors have been changed. Much LVT flooring has been used, which Dean says is great for line dancing.

Ruby Rae singers Ashleigh Bell and Harriet (Image: Jake Usman)

He said: “We have sanded some of the original flooring. We have removed the lighting to reveal a lot of the original features of the church. We have taken off the curtains to expose the brickwork. We have changed the bar to make it look more like Nashville.

“It’s all about the music. We are making the stage the main feature. It will have a deejay booth. Behind is a Ruby Rae’s York sign that will be epic.”

Furthermore, to add character will be plates reflecting the region, ‘dollar walls’, flags, lots of vinyls and ‘lots of neon signs everywhere.’

Singer Ashleigh Bell (Image: Jake Usman)

“It will be very Nashville,” Dean explained, adding lots of seats will be added.

“We want it to be somewhere where people can come in for hours and chill out. We have tried to expose as many of the original features of the church as it is such an epic building.”

Singe Ste Wilson (Image: Jake Usman)

And whilst the work has been underway, Ruby Rae received a boost with a visit from York-born country and western performer Twinnie-Lee Moore. The 39 year-old has appeared on the stage, as well as soaps including Hollyoaks and more recently Emmerdale as boxing promoter Jade.

Though based in Nashville, she regularly visits home and showed her support for Ruby Rae’s by turning up on a horse and with Ruby Rae singers Ashley Bell and Harriet.

Dean added that Twinnie-Lee will perform at Ruby Rae’s York one day.

What do you think of Country and Western music? Will you be going to Ruby Rae’s York?

A heatwave lasting four months, followed by water shortages and crop failures. This is England in the 13th century, not the 21st.

What is often called the Medieval warm period saw elevated temperatures in many parts of the world between the 10th and 13th centuries.

These warmer temperatures were caused in part by an increase in solar irradiance. This is the amount of solar energy reaching Earth, which effects global temperature patterns and influences weather systems. There were also very few volcanic eruptions in this period, which can produce a temporary global cooling effect.

Water shortages and poor harvests

In England, the 13th century saw extreme droughts, devastating city fires and outbreaks of disease. The dry summer of 1212 contributed to the devastation of the Great Fire of Southwark in London, which killed thousands of people.

Contemporary medieval chroniclers recorded a severe drought in 1252. The English Benedictine monk Matthew Paris described four months of “intolerable heat and drought” between March and July, unrelieved by “any fall of rain or dew”.

The Tewkesbury Annals, a contemporary chronicle written by the monks of Tewkesbury Abbey, agreed that “drought prevailed for four months, causing the grass to disappear”. Rubbing the grass between one’s hands was said to turn it into dust.

The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales (Brut y Tywysogion), a medieval record of Welsh history, similarly noted that “the heat of the sun was so great that all the earth became so dry therefrom, that no fruit grew on the trees or [crops in] the fields, and neither fish of the sea nor of the river was obtained”.

Paris went on to describe the lack of available pasture, which led to cattle and livestock wasting away. The warmer weather produced an “abundance of fleas, flies and gnats”, and led to a surge in diseases, with reports of malaria – or the “sweats” and “ague” – in low-lying marshlands.

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Manorial accounts confirm the difficulties facing farmers, with one Bishopric of Winchester manor recording that the ground was so hard they could not plough for six weeks.

The good and the bad

But it wasn’t just England and Wales that was experiencing unusual weather in this period.

Most of the northern hemisphere plus South America, China and Australasia recorded temperatures 0.3-1.0°C higher than those recorded for 1960-1990 – a period that includes the hot summer of 1976.

Conditions in the North Atlantic were so favourable that Norse people were able to cross oceans as the ice melted. They established settlements in Iceland and Greenland, and travelled as far as Vinland (Newfoundland).

South-east England was warm enough to support vineyards – 45 were recorded in the hands of Normans or great abbeys in the Domesday Book of 1086. Yet significantly cooler conditions prevailed in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Warm water was pushed towards Asia, creating wetter conditions in Australasia, but limited rainfall in what we now refer to as the American west. And there were changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (a weather system over the north Atlantic), which brought warmer and wetter conditions to parts of northern Europe.

There are many sources of evidence for reconstructing past climates. These range from ice cores (long cylindrical samples drilled from glaciers which reveal hundreds of thousands of years of climate history) to tree rings showing the annual growing conditions – and from documentary evidence to the archaeological record.

Although some of the precise chronologies and contours of this evidence are still debated, the overall trends in reconstructed climates are becoming increasingly clear.

Not all regions experienced warmer temperatures during this period, however. Many scholars prefer the label Medieval Climate Anomaly instead. This better reflects the fact that climatic changes varied across the globe, and involved more than just rising temperatures.

Although the warmer temperatures produced occasional drought conditions, the overall economic effects of the Medieval Climate Anomaly were largely positive for northern Europe and parts of Asia. It led to large-scale and widespread agricultural expansion and population growth.

Between 600-900, the population of Eurasia only marginally grew from 167 million to 178 million. Between 900-1200, however, it nearly doubled to 324 million.

It was during the Medieval Climate Anomaly that a highly commercialised and monetised economy developed in large parts of medieval Europe, in what historians have described as its commercial revolution.

Yet, the period had far more serious negative consequences elsewhere. The warm storms led to drought conditions in the southern US and parts of South and Central America. This initiated the outbreak of exceptionally large wildfires in the Rocky Mountains. Severe droughts, exacerbated by extensive deforestation and ecological degradation, were a contributing factor in the decline of the classic Maya civilisation (250-900).

The Medieval Climate Anomaly period was brought to an end by climatic instability in the second half of the 13th century – including a volcanic eruption in 1257 that led to global dust clouds and crop failures. These resulted in mass starvation in medieval London.

The early 14th century saw a shift in weather conditions, with exceptionally heavy rain and cool temperatures preventing crops from maturing. This culminated in the Great Famine of 1315-17, which killed around 10% of the European population.

Other significant historic events of the period were also linked to unusual weather and atmospheric conditions. For instance, the Black Death of 1347-53, which killed between a third and two-thirds of the European population, was brought into Europe on grain shipments imported to alleviate famine caused by another volcanic eruption, around 1345.

Any parallels with today?

The Medieval Climate Anomaly was a largely regional episode of natural warmth. Today’s climate change is a rapid worldwide warming trend driven primarily by human greenhouse gas emissions.

Moreover, temperatures are rising today at unprecedented rates. Records continue to tumble, as weather that was once considered extreme is becoming normal.

There are, however, some salutary warnings from the past. As climates change, so too will the risk of diseases spreading and the possibility of weather extremes. With increasing temperatures, it is possible, for example, that malaria may once again become endemic in the UK.

As the medieval period has demonstrated, fire spread can be another acute risk in long periods of dry weather. But unlike the medieval period, we now have the technology to help us prepare, as well as national fire services and more ways to share information quickly. That gives us an advantage that medieval communities just did not have.

Traffic is building on the westbound carriageway near Tadcaster between the A162 and Paradise Lane.

Motorists are currently being delayed by more than 17 minutes, with an average speed of 5mph due to the congestion heading towards the A1(M).

The traffic situation on the A64 westbound at 11.35am, Sunday, July 26. (Image: Google Maps)

One person who has been held up has posted on social media: “Stuck on A64 in a massive traffic jam – nothing moving.”

Another motorist has reported that the outside lane is closed just before junction 44 to the A1, with slow-moving traffic.

She wrote on social media: “Just one car as we’ve just gone past, only police there and driver still in car, traffic moving freely once passed.”

More to follow.

Meghan Markle revealed Prince Harry‘s favourite meal during her surprise appearance on MasterChef Australia on Sunday night.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, who guest starred on the popular Channel Ten reality TV show, was asked by series judge Jean-Christophe Novelli what her preferred dish was to cook for her husband and their two children – Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five. 

The former Suits actress admitted it was a ‘tough’ decision to make given the different taste preferences in her famous family. 

‘It’s a tough one because I have a lot of palates to appease. My husband, being from the UK, loves a lot of meat, potatoes, cream sauce,’ Meghan began.

‘As a California girl, I like a grilled fish, grilled meats, citrus. I just like using lots of really pure natural herbs and spices. I like heat in my food, anything with spices.’

She revealed that her love of spicy food was shared by her husband. 

The Duchess of Sussex , 44, who guest starred on the popular Channel Ten reality TV show, was asked by series judge Jean-Christophe Novelli what her preferred dish was to cook for her husband and their two children – Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five 

‘He can handle a really good curry! We just do a lot of barbecues, whatever is seasonal. The kids are great eaters, we are very lucky on that front,’ Meghan added.

Meghan then went on to proudly boast that both her young children enjoy eating Brussels sprouts.

For her guest spot, contestants of the hit show were asked to create a ‘dish fit for a Duchess’ using ingredients she handpicked from the pantry.

She asked them to whip up a dish using ingredients like honey, macadamia nuts, citrus, edible flowers and celeriac.

As she unveiled a table laden with seasonal produce, Meghan told the contestants ‘my kids eat Brussels sprouts‘, as judge Poh Ling Yeow could be heard saying ‘that’s impressive’.

The Duchess, whose Netflix series With Love, Meghan was recently nominated for a Daytime Emmy, also had a few words of wisdom for the contestants as she acknowledged ‘there is a lot of pressure in this kitchen’.

‘I don’t like to cook that way; I like to cook in a really relaxed fashion,’ she continued.

‘So, all I can say to the competitors is to just remember to have fun, to keep a sense of humour about it, and to cook from the heart’.

The former actress admitted it was a ‘tough’ decision to make given the different taste preferences in her famous family 

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Meghan added that ‘food and cooking are how I show my nurturing and love for my friends, family and my kids’ in a sweet nod to her and Prince Harry’s children.

She told the contestants: ‘I’d love it if there’s a connection that you can find when, as you’re cooking something, what is the story behind it?… What is something from your family or from a memory… something sentimental that we can also taste as we taste your dish?’

‘These are all things that, for me, feel really nostalgic,’ she added.

At the start of the show, Meghan insisted that she did not want to be called ‘Duchess’ as Poh introduced her.

‘Welcome. Do I call you Duchess?’ Poh asked. 

‘Oh, call me Meghan. Absolutely, yeah,’ Meghan insisted.

Meghan’s insistence that the cast use her first name rather than her title comes after her alleged sensitivities over claims that her Australian tour with Prince Harry back in April was cashing in on their royal links.

She was reportedly ‘frustrated’ when she was described as ‘royalty’ in a promo for Australia’s wildly popular reality TV show.

‘Meghan and her team had ‘specifically’ made clear they did not want the word ‘royal’ used‘, a source said at the time the promo was released.

The report went on to claim Meghan was unhappy about being described as royalty, despite the fact that, through her marriage to Harry, the term is technically correct.

After introducing herself as ‘Meghan’ on the show, she went on to declare her love for the land Down Under, explaining the trip was a ‘full circle’ moment for her and her husband as they had announced they were expecting their son Archie while visiting the country eight years ago.

‘Oh, we’re so excited. We love Australia. We had the most sentimental, amazing time. We were here almost eight years ago.  We announced we were pregnant with Archie at the time. So, it’s full circle, here we are, but thrilled to be here with all of you and taste some really good food. I’ve heard you’ve been cooking up a storm this season,’ she said.   

Summer 2001. Tony Blair had just won a second thumping election victory, promising opportunity for all. The new census showed a nation losing its religion, more inclined to live alone and more ethnically diverse. The maximum temperature was a tepid 32°C in west London in late June, while the twin towers rose tall and proud as always over the New York skyline.

Twenty five years on, we wanted to look at how the UK has changed. Welcome to the first of a six-part report from a group of 35 specialists, exploring all of the key developments in the intervening period.

Domestic politics

Martin Farr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History, Newcastle University

2001: A Political Odyssey is one way of framing how Britain has changed in the first quarter of the 21st century. When that year arrived, it turned out to be rather less advanced than the world of moon bases and video calls that Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick had imagined (even in 2026, the test launch for the latest moon rocket recently exploded on the launchpad).

Tony Blair’s Labour government had been re-elected in June 2001 in a second landslide, its last untarnished victory. By 2005 Labour would be mired in war, and coming to terms with a reduced – though still substantial – parliamentary majority on only 35% of the vote.

Populism was certainly a word in 2001, but its usage in Britain was rare – it derived from America, along with much else in our cultural life. In Britain, the same two parties had been in government since 1924, and power alternated between them. When in opposition, Labour or Conservative had only to wait for their next opportunity.

How has the UK changed since the start of the century? From Blair to Burnham, from the dotcom era to AI agents, time has certainly not stood still. In this six-part series, a team of some 35 experts look at everything from defence spending to species populations to the rise of populism to try and make sense of the intervening years.

The Britain of 2001 was much simpler – only one of the two legacy parties ever in office, their longevity lubricated by economic growth – though complications were in train. Devolution had become institutionalised three years earlier. Those who had advocated for self-government for Wales and Scotland did so for one of two reasons (Northern Ireland being a quite different matter).

Either they saw devolution as a staging post to independence, or they thought the opposite: that desire for independence could only be addressed by devolving – repatriating, as a nationalist might see it – powers from London to Cardiff and Edinburgh. Who was right? Too soon to say, but the First Ministers of both Scotland and Wales are nationalists who advocate independence for their nations.

Brexit

In one very limited sense things actually got simpler. In 2001 Britain had for 28 years been part of the European Economic Community, which had become the European Community, and then the European Union. For those who supported Brexit, the implication of those changes in title were of more than semantic interest: they helped explain the vote to leave. Brexit wasn’t even a word in 2001, of course. “Eurosceptic” was the nearest equivalent, in consequence of Margaret Thatcher’s landmark 1988 Bruges speech, warning of the dangers of a “European super-state”. From such acorns do mighty oaks rise.

The simplification of not having to be part of the 27-country assemblage, however, is dwarfed by the complications spawned by Britain’s departure, not least politically. To effect withdrawal from the EU, a culture of party political insurgency developed, usually promulgated by – one might say requiring – a charismatic individual.

James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party came fourth at the 1997 general election, with nearly a million new voters. A million also voted for Nick Griffin’s almost explicitly racist British National Party in the 2009 local elections. Yet by the 2015 general election, Nigel Farage’s Ukip, effectively the successor to Goldsmith’s party, received almost 4 million votes. Both the Ukip and BNP votes collapsed later that year with the Conservative offer of an EU referendum; Goldsmith died, but Farage would be back.

Brexit was a process as much as an event, but there were several others that were epochal: the 2003 Iraq war and the 2010 political “expenses scandal” shattered much of what public trust remained in Westminster. The SNP winning power in Scotland in 2007 led to the 2014 independence referendum. The nationalists lost, but in doing so created national faultines that could no longer be ignored.

Most of all, the 2008 financial crash defined the period. Stagnant living standards provide fertile grounds for grievances – catnip to populists. And so, in part, the appeal of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, of Jeremy Corbyn and Farage, and now the Green party’s Zack Polanski; charismatic individuals that characterise an increasingly individualistic society (curious how – conventionally – tainted so many of them became).

The new divisions

The greatest complication is voter fragmentation. In the 1950s more than 90% of voters voted Labour or Conservative (more often than not for the same party as their parents). It would have been inconceivable that there could be comparable standings for five parties in England, and six in Scotland and Wales. Multi-party politics is the new normal.

But the Westminster voting system wasn’t created to deal with such an array. Keir Starmer’s Labour government was elected on 33% of the vote, not only the most disproportionate outcome in British electoral history but the fourth most disproportionate in the world. Proportional voting could become a clarion under Andy Burnham (a longstanding supporter). As advocates see it, this would allow voters to vote for what they actually want, rather than for what they want to prevent.

Today, the new is helping revive the old in the sense that the 1970s question is being asked again: is Britain governable? Then, successive Conservative and Labour governments were both forced from office, effectively by trade union power. Nationalism and populism, in their different forms, have taken its place.

It is increasingly challenging for those who seek to explain and interpret, even predict, this uniquely fractured and fluid British political scene. In 2001 the Green Party managed 0.6% of votes in the general election. In 2026 they are on around 15%, run councils and have elected mayors.

In Reform UK polling suggests that Britain may have its first new party of government for over a century. Between 1979 and 2007 there were three prime ministers; since 2016 there have been seven.

In Clarke’s and Kubrick’s 2001 conception, a monolith had been left behind by an alien civilisation to help guide the evolution of intelligent life on Earth. If only, one may be forgiven for thinking, there was something similar in British politics.

Geopolitics and defence

Geraint Hughes, Reader in Diplomatic and Military History, King’s College London

In July 1998, the then-Labour defence secretary, George Robertson, presented the new government’s strategic defence review to parliament, with one of its conclusions being that Britain faced no real threat of attack by a major state adversary.

In April 2026 the now Baron Robertson of Port Ellen publicly berated the current Labour government for its “corrosive complacency” over defence. Robertson had co-authored the 2025 strategic defence review, which stated that the UK has to prepare for a possible war between Nato and a resurgent Russia.

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He has clearly become frustrated that the review’s recommendations are being slowly (if at all) implemented, because of costs. And he’s not the only one: John Healey resigned as defence secretary for the same reason, telling the prime minister that the government’s spending plan “falls well short” of what is required to keep the country safe.

Keir Starmer finally responded on June 30, rushing out his long-delayed defence investment plan. It offers a £15 billion top-up focused heavily on drone warfare, yet still leaves the military well short of the funding Robertson and Healey believe is needed.

The new geopolitics

It is of course a constant challenge for the government to ensure that British armed forces have sufficient troops, firepower, ships and planes. Even at the time of the 1998 review there were fierce quarrels between Robertson and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, over defence costs. In 2010 the then-coalition government imposed swingeing cuts on the armed forces’ capabilities on the front line and the so-called rear echelon, which includes things like supply lines, logistics and medical care. The Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force are still suffering as a result.

However, the strategic backdrop for British defence policy was very different in previous decades. Ten years after the cold war ended, Europe was largely at peace. Closer to home, the Good Friday agreement of April 1998 ended 30 years of British military operations in Northern Ireland.

At that time, the UK’s armed forces were involved in peace support operations in the former Yugoslavia. In retrospect, the 1999 stand-off between Russian and British paratroopers at Pristina airport, Kosovo, at the end of the war in that country should have warned us that great power rivalries hadn’t disappeared.

After 9/11, Tony Blair’s government committed British forces to fight alongside the US in Afghanistan and – far more controversially – Iraq. These conflicts led to the deaths of 636 British servicemen and women, and undermined public support for military interventionism.

Blair justified both wars by arguing that the UK needed to pay a “blood price” to bolster ties with its most important ally. President Donald Trump’s denigration of the sacrifice Britain and other Nato allies made in Afghanistan raises the question of whether this price was worth it.

Today, Britain and its European allies face the threat of a major war in Europe. Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 may have been a miscalculation, but Vladimir Putin has overseen a process of rapid military expansion, which means that the Russians could still potentially attack a Nato member state.

More alarmingly, the foundation of British defence policy – US membership and support for Nato – is being undermined by the Americans themselves. Trump and his officials blame the lack of European support for Operation Epic Fury against Iran for undermining the Atlantic alliance.

In reality, the current US president has long been a Nato sceptic, and his administration’s 2025 national security strategy had harsher language for America’s European allies than it had for Russia. Although US-European relations have rarely been trouble-free, previous presidents did not threaten to seize territory from their allies by force, as Trump has done with Denmark and Greenland.

It is true that it is very hard for any democracy to spend money on military power when there are other pressing requirements in the form of health, policing, education or welfare. The main political parties will accuse each other of running down Britain’s armed forces, but the uncomfortable truth is that in peacetime defence is never a priority for the British public.

Britons generally respect their servicemen and women. But at this moment of rising geopolitical tensions, they are split over whether to cut other public services to fund them, as well as generally unwilling to join up themselves.

Whether these attitudes will change in the event of another 1914 or 1939 moment is a matter for speculation and debate both inside and outside the UK’s defence establishment.

Constitutional challenges

Stephen Clear, Lecturer in Constitutional, Administrative and Public Procurement Law, Bangor University

Following the September 11 attacks, the UK government moved to expand its powers through measures such as the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. While intended to strengthen national security, it created tension with civil liberties by permitting extended detention, surveillance and restrictions on the rights of suspected terrorists.

This was tested at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2009 in a case about a group of 11 foreign nationals in the UK, who had been detained without charge on the grounds that they had links to al-Qaeda and posed a threat to UK national security. Their lawyers argued that the power to indefinitely detain individuals without a formal charge ran contrary to human rights obligations, and the court found in their favour, forcing the UK government to revise the 2001 legislation.

These events highlighted the struggle to balance security concerns with human rights. It demonstrated the power of the ECHR to intervene in matters concerning individuals’ liberties and the rule of law (in this case the principles that the law applies equally to everyone and no one can be indefinitely imprisoned without a fair trial).

The UK supreme court

The supreme court was established in 2009, replacing the former appellate committee of the House of Lords.

This resulted in the UK’s most senior judges no longer sitting in the House of Lords. The head of the judiciary is now the Lord Chief Justice (rather than the Lord Chancellor) and is therefore no longer a cabinet minister and politician.

This strengthened the separation of powers by formally separating the judiciary from parliament and enhancing judicial independence, as well as incorporating elements of separation of powers in modern legislation for the first time.

The court also moved to a new publicly accessible building and began live-streaming most open-court proceedings, which improved transparency.

Devolution

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have gained expanded legislative and fiscal powers through successive devolution acts. There have been challenges to the status quo such as the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. There have also been difficulties surrounding the Northern Ireland power-sharing agreement, which notably collapsed from 2017-2020 over a green energy scandal.

These tensions exposed weaknesses in the UK’s unwritten constitutional model and raised questions about Westminster’s parliamentary sovereignty and the future of the union. Meanwhile, devolved governments increasingly shaped their own domestic policies, particularly during the pandemic, demonstrating both the flexibility and fragility of the current constitutional arrangements.

Brexit…again

The vote to leave the EU in 2016 triggered major constitutional change for the UK. Brexit was enacted by the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 repealing the European Communities Act 1972, while retaining some EU law within domestic legislation to ensure legal continuity.

Over the Brexit period, the supreme court ruled on the limits of government power in several cases brought by business leader Gina Miller. It reaffirmed parliamentary sovereignty by requiring the UK parliament’s approval for the government to trigger article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (to start the legal process of leaving the EU). It also confirmed the limits on the government’s power to suspend (prorogue) parliament at a strategic point during the negotiations to force through what it wanted.

The initial high-court ruling in the Miller cases in 2016 earned judges newspaper headlines branding them “enemies of the people”. This highlighted constitutional concerns about judicial independence and attempts to undermine their ability to make decisions in such circumstances.

Brexit’s effect on constitutional tensions could also notably be seen through the Northern Ireland Protocol, which created trade arrangements to avoid a hard Irish border, but also generated political and unionist opposition.

Tumultuous elections

Nine prime ministers since 2001 represents a high turnover by the UK’s historic standards. Frequent leadership changes, including prime ministers assuming office mid-parliament, raise concerns about their democratic legitimacy to govern.

The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.

There are also questions about broader executive accountability, since they can’t properly be held to account by parliament for the mistakes of their predecessor.

Frequent elections and party leadership challenges have led to concerns that the UK system has become constitutionally unstable, and shouldn’t be so flexible as to permit things like changes of prime minister without elections.

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 was a move in a different direction, mandating general elections every five years and removing the prime minister’s power to unilaterally call them earlier. However, the act’s repeal in 2022 restored the prime minister’s discretion to call elections.

Coronavirus lockdowns

COVID-19 emergency powers expanded government authority to impose lockdowns and restrictions. These developments raised constitutional concerns about the balance between civil liberties, ministerial power and parliamentary scrutiny through extensive secondary legislation which isn’t required to go through the full parliamentary legislative process.

At the same time, we saw rows over perceptions of inequality in how the lockdown rules were applied to elected officials, including through the “partygate” scandal over social gatherings at the heart of government.

The pandemic tested the ability of judicial review to act as an effective check amid a national crisis, in relation to government procurement of personal protective equipment. It also tested how the devolved governments could work with Westminster in such a period.

New head of state

After Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the accession of King Charles III in 2022 marked a once-in-a-generation constitutional transition.

The immediate transfer of the crown demonstrated the UK constitution’s principle that sovereignty is continuous, with no vacancy in the head of state.

Despite national mourning, the king was formally proclaimed without disruption. It represented a notable “first” for citizens witnessing a modern accession and coronation under contemporary constitutional and media conditions.

The future of human rights

More recently, criticism of judicial influence in immigration cases, migrant hotel use, and small boat asylum claims has fuelled calls for reform or repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 and for the UK to leave the Council of Europe.

These pressures, alongside the rise of the Reform and Restore parties, have created a major constitutional battleground. They expose a deep clash between what the government can achieve politically, and the strict legal rules around human rights that currently limit what they can do.

The UK’s constitution has become more complex over the past 25 years. While Westminster parliamentary sovereignty remains fundamental to the UK model, it is increasingly balanced with judicial interpretation, devolved power, and stronger rights protections.

The events since the turn of the century confirm that the UK constitution is a living breathing instrument. Whereas it was largely about continuity in the past, where things were done in a certain way out of tradition, the constitution has increasingly been defined by its ability to adapt to major changes like devolution or react fast to developments like the pandemic.

For you: more from our Insights series:

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Not being taken seriously

Chronic comparison to older siblings

The myth of the carefree ‘fun one’

The ‘spoiled’ and ‘favourite’ labels

Difficulty setting boundaries

Learned helplessness

Feeling overlooked and unseen

Bonfanti Diego via Getty Images

A need for a stronger sense of self

Russia’s war against Ukraine is not going according to Vladimir Putin’s original plan. The Russian president’s initial strategy called for the war to be won within ten days, but Ukraine’s spirited defence in the first months of the war robbed Russia of the initiative. Now, four and a half years later, the frontline inside Ukraine has remained largely static for months.

Meanwhile, the human cost continues to mount, particularly for the invaders. British intelligence estimates suggest that the number of Russian soldiers killed during the conflict is approaching half a million since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Rumours are growing about a new round of mobilisation.

Ukraine has also intensified drone strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, targeting both occupied Crimea and locations deep inside Russia, including Moscow and St Petersburg.

Fuel shortages and internet outages are now affecting much of the country, and public frustration appears to be growing. The Russian president himself has publicly acknowledged that Russia is facing difficult circumstances.

There has been a great deal of speculation that Putin’s position is increasingly tenuous. The most recent survey by Russia’s state pollster, VCIOM, for June 22-28, found that Putin’s job approval rating fell to 66.9%, down from 70.4% the previous week. The percentage saying they disapprove of his performance rose from 19.7% to 21.3%. His trust rating, meanwhile, fell from 76.7% to 73.3% over the same period.

It’s Putin’s lowest rating since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022. But this still doesn’t indicate that his presidency is in particular peril. The Russian president remains by far the most popular political leader according to the VCIOM poll, and his party, United Russia, sits at the top of the list when it comes to people’s voting intentions.

But there are certainly some indications that Putin himself may feel increasingly vulnerable. His decision to massively scale down the annual Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square on May 9 suggested heightened concerns about the danger of drone attacks from Ukraine. Putin has also become increasingly secretive about his whereabouts. Reports of his use of multiple identical offices, combined with longstanding speculation about body doubles, have reinforced an image of a leader preoccupied with security.

Such precautions may be intended to counter external threats. But they may also reflect anxiety about potential challenges from within the Russian elite.

Recent events have highlighted this possibility. Earlier this month, prominent blogger Ilya Remeslo, once a staunch supporter of the Russian president, was remanded in custody for two months on suspicion of spreading false information against the military. In March 2026, he published a blog post under the headline: “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin”.

Similarly, on June 25, Aleksandr Lunin, a veteran of the war in Ukraine who has become a prominent “milblogger” – online commentators of military affairs, often, like Lunin, ex-military – posted a video warning of possible mutiny, demanding a televised conversation with Putin about Russia’s military failures. He has also been detained, which effectively ended his public campaign. Nevertheless, the incident revealed signs of discontent in parts of the military and invited comparisons with the time preceding Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny in June 2023.

Job for life

But history tells us how hard it is to unseat a Russian (or Soviet) leader. Since the revolution in 1917, many have died in office – and the likeliest scenario is still that Putin will follow this pattern. After the constitutional amendments of 2020, there is nothing, save physical health issues, stopping him from remaining in office until the year 2036, at which point he will be 84.

With the exception of the short-term interim leader Georgy Malenkov, who took power after the death of Josef Stalin in 1953, only to be outmanoeuvred and replaced by Nikita Khrushchev within two years, only two leaders have faced outright coup attempts. The only one who was ousted was Nikita Khrushchev. He narrowly escaped a coup attempt already in 1957 but was finally ousted in 1964 .

Then there was Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991. Like Khrushchev, he faced considerable opposition from hardliners in the Soviet power structure and was forced to resign only months after an attempted military coup by conservatives opposed to his programme of reforms, which they believed threatened the cohesion of the Soviet Union.

However, his downfall was inseparable from the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself. The Soviet system collapsed immediately after his resignation on December 25, leaving the way clear for Boris Yeltsin to assume control of an independent Russia.

The ousting of Khrushchev may, therefore, offer more relevant parallels, happening as it did in a period of considerable international tension at the height of the cold war. Krushchev had been badly damaged in the eyes of Kremlin hardliners by the failures of his Berlin policy and during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

Regarding the former, he had twice demanded in 1958 and 1961 that western powers leave West Berlin within six months and turn it into a “free city”. Both Dwight D. Eisenhower and his successor, John F. Kennedy, refused to comply. It was a very public embarrassment for the Soviet leader.

On top of this, the Cuban missile crisis, during which the Soviet Union installed medium-range nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island within 100 miles of the US mainland, only to back down under intense diplomatic pressure, was seen as another huge blow to Soviet prestige.

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Fall of Khrushchev: 60 years since the ‘most democratic coup’ in Soviet history, how Comrade Nikita was toppled

And here’s a similarity between Khruschev and Putin. Rather than the Russian president coming under pressure from powerful players wanting to end the war in Ukraine, any palace coup in Putin’s Russia would probably come from hardliners dissatisfied with what they see as insufficiently aggressive policies. Any plotting successor emerging from the security establishment would probably be even more committed to continuing the war than Putin himself.

But this remains unlikely. Since coming to power on New Year’s Eve in 1999, the Russian president has entrenched himself in a political system centred on himself as leader. As a result, the strongest historical precedent may be the simplest one: like most Kremlin leaders before him, Vladimir Putin is most likely to die with his boots on.

The scheme is designed to help people with disabilities or health conditions park closer to their destination.

Additionally, it allows people to park in specified Blue Badge parking spaces at supermarkets and other places.

The Blue Badge is linked to a person rather than a specific vehicle, so it can be used with any car.

If you’re using a Blue Badge to park on the street, you may need to use a clock alongside it.

When do you need to use a clock for a Blue Badge?

When you park on yellow lines or in other places where there is a time restriction, you need to display the blue parking clock to show your time of arrival.

“The clock should be set to show the quarter hour period during which you arrived,” the Government website shares.

“If you need to use a parking clock, you must display it on the vehicle’s dashboard or facia panel, so that the time can be seen clearly through the front windscreen.

“If there is no dashboard or facia panel in your vehicle, you must still display the clock in a place where it can be clearly read from outside the vehicle.”

If you don’t have the clock displayed, you may receive a parking ticket.

The parking clock is usually sent with the Blue Badge.

If not, you can request one from the same council that issued the badge.

Where can Blue Badge holders park?

A valid Blue Badge can provide a range of parking concessions, including:

• Parking in designated disabled bays.
• Free parking at many on-street pay-and-display bays – those on public roads administered by the council, not private companies.
• Parking on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours where loading restrictions do not apply – although check with your local council as this can vary.
• Access to council-operated disabled parking concessions, depending on local rules.

These concessions generally do not automatically extend to private supermarket or retail park car parks.

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Who can use a Blue Badge?

“The badge is for your use and benefit only,” the Government website shares.

“It must only be displayed if you are travelling in the vehicle as a driver or passenger, or if someone is collecting you or dropping you off and needs to park at the place where you are being collected or dropped.”

It is important you don’t allow other people to use the badge to do something on your behalf, such as shopping or collecting something for you.

Have you used a parking clock alongside a Blue Badge? Let us know in the comments.

The driver and passenger in the car were uninjured

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A man has died in a crash involving an e-scooter and a car in Co Meath.

The rider of the e-scooter, an unidentified male, was pronounced dead at the scene on the Kentstown Road in Navan at about 1.45am on Sunday. His body has been taken to the mortuary at Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan.

The driver and passenger in the car, a man in his 60s and a man in his 20s respectively, were both uninjured.

The road was closed for a forensic examination and local diversions are in place.

Gardaí are appealing to any witnesses to come forward.

In a separate incident, a teenage man died in a single-vehicle crash in Co Tipperary in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The incident took place on the L4101 at Lanespark, Ballynonty, Thurles, and gardaí are also appealing for witnesses.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Manchester Day returns today in a colourful celebration of the city with a host of free family-friendly events taking place. Events kick off from 12 noon across Manchester’s civic squares, before the grand parade which will snake through the city centre’s streets from 1pm.

This year there will be a Catalan twist, to celebrate the city’s cultural ties with Barcelona. Manchester Day has become a huge event in the city ever since it was first launched in 2010.

The parade may be the centrepiece of the day, but there’s lots more happening to with roaming performers, musical performances and free activities across Sunday in the city centre. The main focus of activities will be on St Peter’s Square, Albert Square, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Square, Brazennose Street and Lincoln Square.

Click here for the latest on Manchester’s food & drink scene, gigs and more in our CityLife newsletter

Indeed, the event will be the first time Albert Square has been in use for Manchester Day since the Grade I Town Hall was closed for restoration in 2018. The square will also host the all-singing and dancing finale taking place here at 4.35pm to 5pm.

We will be bringing you live updates from the events across the city, including a full live stream of the event’s centrepiece – the grand parade at 1pm.

The parade will include a host of performers from Spain, in a collaboration follows Manchester’s role as guest city at last year’s iconic La Mercè festival in Barcelona, the first-ever English guest city chosen by Barcelona officials to take part in the annual event.

There will be over 550 performers on the parade, which will feature 25 community groups from across the city and beyond all celebrating Manchester’s rich cultural heritage.

Led by Manchester’s giant-sized Queen Bee and Worker Bee, the parade will also include giant puppets – the gegants – on their first ever trip outside of Spain, as well as bold costumes inspired by Catalan tradition.

Inspired also by this year’s National Year of Reading, expect plenty of nods to famous books in the parade too.