It was sad but strangely fitting that Dolly Parton should have died during the UK’s National Year of Reading, given the way the much-loved country singer used her wealth and influence to promote reading.

Parton’s Imagination Library has provided hundreds of millions of books to pre-school children around the world since 1995. While books are of course important, my work as a reading and language academic makes clear this must be complemented with robust reading instruction and support that is sustained through childhood and adolescence for those who need it.

The singer was well aware that she was judged by her appearance, and used this to her advantage. Behind her almost cartoonish “cover” was an incredibly smart woman who used her profile to address the things she cared about: community, poverty, education and reading.

For her Tennessee community, she built the Dollywood theme park in 1986 to bring employment, the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to promote education, and the Imagination Library in 1995 to give children access to books.

The Imagination Library gifts a book a month to children from birth to five years. What started in Dolly’s home state in the US has extended to Canada, the UK, Australia and Ireland. In any area where there is an active programme partner, parents and carers simply sign up and the rest is taken care of.

In 2025, the programme celebrated its 30th anniversary and hit a milestone of distributing more than 300 million books to children. In the UK, Imagination Library books have found their way into many homes across the four home nations. In her research, Caroline Zwierzchowska-Dod at Swansea University revealed the impact of the programme, including increased shared reading, improved early childhood literacy and boosting school readiness.

Motivation and engagement

Parton created the Imagination Library in tribute to her father, who was held back in life by illiteracy. The singer’s response was to provide access to books, resonating with other initiatives around the world, like the UK’s BookTrust Bookstart programme.

But motivation and engagement is about more than just access to books. In the Nuffield Foundation’s Love to Read project, access was just one of six identified research-informed principles to promote reading motivation and engagement.

Also important are: choice of reading materials; having the time to read; connection and personal resonance; social interaction around books; and the success needed to identify as a reader. Alongside reading materials, we must ensure that children can access printed formats, whether they are reading to one another, or for themselves.

In terms of human evolution, reading is a recent invention, employing parts of the brain that have evolved to support spoken language and vision. But unlike spoken language, reading must be actively taught, and effective early instruction is crucial.

The UK national curriculum mandates systematic synthetic phonics, where children are taught the sounds that link to letters, alongside a rich language and reading environment. Despite high-quality reading instruction, a substantial minority of children have reading needs, with 20-25% failing to meet UK government standards at ages six and 11.

The research I undertook with colleagues Laura Shapiro, Sanne van der Kleij and Adrian Burgess demonstrates reading needs are also prevalent in the teenage years, especially for youngsters from more disadvantaged backgrounds. We have translated our work into two continuing professional development programmes that enable secondary school leaders and teachers to support reading in their pupils.

Both will and skill are important. If both are in place, then young readers can enter a virtuous circle of reading more, getting better at reading, reading more, and so on. Importantly though, our research shows that skill must come first if we want our young people to enter this virtuous circle.

Early experiences, sustained practice

Dolly’s Imagination Library gifts books to all children from babies up to the age of five. Providing access to books from birth helps to establish early shared reading habits.

Research indicates that shared reading of “first word” books is directly linked to infant word learning, and that regular reading routines promote infant interest and parent confidence.

The goals of the Imagination Library and our findings resonate with the importance of early efforts to promote reading. However, early intervention can never be enough. Academics and teachers must sustain the efforts to identify, support and monitor reading progress throughout childhood and adolescence, for at least two reasons.

First, the demands of reading change as children develop. Initially, language comprehension is crucial as children listen to stories. Then, as children learn to read, knowledge of the sounds of their language (phonology) and how they map them onto letters (orthography) comes into play.

As children build their word-reading skills, reading fluency and reading comprehension, a complex array of knowledge and skills becomes important – including vocabulary, comprehension skills and background knowledge of the text. Thus, the barriers to successful reading change.

This means we can’t assume a child who can successfully engage in shared reading experiences will be successful when they learn to read. Reading difficulties or needs can emerge at any point, as the challenge of reading shifts. So, identification and monitoring is an ongoing process.

Second, even if we have robust approaches for identifying reading needs in the early stages of reading, these needs may well be pervasive over time. While early intervention is crucial, we must monitor progress carefully and intervention must be sustained where it is needed.

Dolly Parton may no longer be with us, but her generous Imagination Library has put millions of books into the hands of children all over the world. It has helped foster not just a love of reading, but good reading habits that can set children up for life.

Donald Trump’s administration has funneled another $2.65 million of taxpayer funds into renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, bringing total costs for the project to nearly $20 million.

In July, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Trump administration would not seek any new contracts after costs exploded to more than $17 million.

But federal spending records show that the National Park Service awarded a nearly $2.7 million contract last week to American Ag Energy Inc., for the maintenance, repair and rebuilding of water purification and sewage treatment equipment.

The president initially said a refurbishing project for the iconic 2,030-foot pool could be done quickly for $1.5 million in time for White House-backed Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, D.C.

But those costs quickly surged to nearly $7 million after an initial no-bid contract was handed to a Virginia-based firm that did not appear to have previously held a contract with the federal government.

That company, Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, was awarded another $6.2 million in May. On June 3, the company received another $1 million, followed by more than $461,000 on June 15.

The shallow pool, which the president repeatedly promotes as “bigger than skyscrapers,” was refurbished with a shade of dark blue and outfitted with “advanced nanobubbler technology” to tackle algae blooms that have long plagued the landmark.

But shortly after workers refilled the pool, the algae returned, and the recently applied sealant in the Trump-requested blue hue started to peel and float to the surface.

The monument was then closed off with fencing and the pool was drained once again to repair the damage and redo the work.

Last month, Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was awarded $1.8 million to install a water-purification system.

And last week, American Ag Energy Inc. was awarded $2.65 million to maintain and repair water treatment, records show.

Those contracts bring the project’s total to at least $19.1 million.

American Ag Energy’s founder and CEO Richard Rosen told NBC News that the company believed it would tackle the beleaguered pool’s algae problem.

“I read about it in The New York Times, and I said, you know what, I can fix this problem,” he told the network.

The Trump administration bypassed a typical competitive bid process to award the contracts to the firms by arguing that the need for renovations was so urgent that any delays would cause “serious injury” to the government, though it remains unclear what that “injury” entailed.

The president continues to rage against alleged vandalism at the pool and has pushed federal prosecutors to seek criminal charges against people he has accused, without evidence, of damaging the site.

Weeks after she publicly accused a former Olympian of “forcefully and violently” ripping out the Reflecting Pool’s Trump-requested blue liner, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro filed a stunning motion to dismiss the case entirely.

Pirro’s office admitted that the Trump-requested “American flag blue” sealant started to peel “almost immediately” after the work was completed after recent renovations to the site. The Department of Interior “provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case,” the filing said.

It was not until after the indictment was filed against 67-year-old David Hearn that the agency determined that the “damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism,” according to the filing.

Trump later pushed Pirro to “revisit her hastily made decision,” though he has also admitted that “some contractor error” played a role in the damage.

Despite dropping felony charges against Hearn, Pirro has indicated that her office isn’t ready to close the case.

Hearn has asked a judge to dismiss the case with prejudice, which would prevent prosecutors from reviving felony charges against him for the same alleged crime. His legal team called the prospect of a new case against him “prosecutorial harassment.”

Pirro, however, is asking a judge to dismiss the case but only on the condition that her office can potentially try prosecuting Hearn again.

In a court filing last month, Pirro’s office argued that other evidence could materialize, adding that “the mere potential that charges may be re-brought does not constitute the type of harassment for which dismissal with prejudice is appropriate.”

The legal team behind Hearn — a champion canoeist who represented the U.S. at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics — has argued that Trump’s comments suggest he is being targeted in a politically fueled attack.

“From day one, the case against Mr. Hearn was motivated by political considerations and devoid of adequate factual support,” lawyers wrote August 4. “Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge.”

The case record demonstrates a “substantial and specific risk that, if the indictment is dismissed without prejudice, Mr. Hearn will face renewed charges, however meritless, driven by political pressure rather than the evidence,” they added.

As a professional embroiderer and textile archaeologist specialising in the early medieval period (450-1100 CE), I was privileged to be asked to contribute to the British Museum’s catalogue for its much-anticipated exhibition of the Bayeux tapestry, which is on display from September 2026 till July 2027.

My previous work has involved me analysing the reverse of the Bayeux tapestry from photographs, and microscopically examining sections of the front to see how it was embroidered. This work informed how I explained the embroiderers’ skills, practices and knowledge of the materials they worked with for visitors to the British Museum.

Writing my contribution has made me think about the stories the Bayeux tapestry conjures, not just the narrative stitched along its surviving 68-metre length, but also the other areas that generations of researchers have explored.

There have been numerous publications and research projects on the subject. While there are too many to discuss here, an online search suggests over 1,000 published works. These cover topics such as: who commissioned it and why; who made it and where; the design process; whether it was meant for a specific place and if so, where; whether the stories and motifs depicted are accurate to their real counterparts; and whether there were any hidden messages. The list goes on.

Until recently, it is the detailed process of its making, and the embroiderers’ understanding of their materials and how they manipulated them to create the effects they needed, that has fascinated me.

However, over the last couple of years I have become increasingly interested in how people engaged with the tapestry as a form of cognitive and sensory material culture. As part of my wider research, I have started to investigate this and
publish some of my findings.

Physical interaction

If we look at the meanings incorporated into different objects during the early medieval period, we see that the Bayeux tapestry is a visual form of the scop, an early medieval storyteller who told tales of heroes and great deeds, helping to preserve the oral tradition of the early English peoples.

When the scop spoke, they mentally shaped the listening audience, creating a shared living memory that would dissipate with the final words – until re-imagined and retold the next time. But the embroidered imagery of the Bayeux tapestry was a constant, unchanging narrative, always observable while the hanging was exhibited. Here the stories were “read” visually, as onlookers proceeded along the tapestry’s length.

But if the Bayeux tapestry was displayed within a castle keep, people would have been standing in a square space viewing the different scenes directly opposite each other, enabling the viewer to make connections between them.

What I found striking is that the tapestry was not a static object. When hung, it would have moved, caught by a draught or a person passing by. This movement would have made the stitched pictures come “alive”, turning the static narrative into a something like a film, inviting the viewer to participate in the action more fully than they might have expected.

The colours of the fibrous wool thread used by embroiderers would contrast with the smooth cream/white linen ground fabric. Their tones would change as light moved across them and as the fabric undulated, creating shadows. Horses now galloped, sails billowed, and hair was blown by the wind, making the tapestry kinetic, enhancing the idea of a living history.

If the tapestry was hung during mealtimes in a castle keep, the sound of clattering crockery and banging vessels, accompanied by talking and laughter and the smell of food would have brought the cooking and feasting scenes alive.

People would have interacted with the tapestry, touching it, brushing their fingers along the stitching, over images that captured their attention, enjoying a tactile, sensory experience to accompany their thoughts. They would become animated as they talked about what they saw. Noise would have ebbed and flowed within the enclosed space while sound from outside would have been muffled by the thick texture of the hanging itself. In this way the audience would have been encapsulated in a private world.

This was theatre in the round with a show that the audience was asked to participate and believe in. It was an immersive experience that would have held varying meanings for those who took part, depending on their viewpoint, life experiences and beliefs.

Unlike the storytelling scops, who were able to bring together a whole audience, the Bayeux tapestry, while telling certain stories from specific perspectives, could not command the audience to unite in the same way.

While the scops told their audiences what to think and feel, the intensely visual nature of the tapestry allowed each viewer to individually interpret what they saw. This would only have changed if they spoke to other onlookers, digested other thoughts and opinions and moulded their own as a result.

The Bayeux tapestry was a powerful object that not only told a story. Its rich and detailed decoration created individual and personal engagements with those viewing it, while drawing together people through shared experience.

By RAVEN SAUNT, US LIFESTYLE EDITOR

Published: 17:07 BST, 3 September 2026 | Updated: 22:16 BST, 3 September 2026

Zendaya‘s mom has hit out at negative comments about her looks as she branded the criticism ‘sad and frustrating.’

Claire Stoermer, 62, took to her Instagram story on Wednesday to stand her ground against online trolls.

Sharing a screenshot of a post about her appearance that had popped up on her feed, she wrote: ‘I totally get why people have to give up Instagram for their mental health. 

‘If I was to go and read all the comments on this post about myself, I could feel really bad. There are some terrible, horrible comments, I did read some of them.’

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Stoermer, a former teacher, continued: ‘And thank goodness I don’t take that s**t personally. Once upon a time I may have. 

‘And if I was a young person, I know I definitely would have. It’s sad and frustrating.’

To conclude, the doting mom referenced the ‘four agreements,’ explaining: ‘One of them is don’t take anything personally, it has nothing to do with you.’ 

California-born Zendaya shares a close bond with her mother as well as dad Kazembe Ajamu Coleman, 66, who previously managed her career during her early Disney Channel years.

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Zendaya’s mom has hit out at negative comments about her looks as she branded the criticism ‘sad and frustrating’

Claire Stoermer, 62, took to her Instagram story on Wednesday to stand her ground against online trolls

Her parents divorced when Zendaya was a child but the star has revealed that the former couple are ‘still homies.’

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Claire now runs her own jewelry company, named Kizzmet Jewelry, which is often worn by Zendaya herself.

The star, now 30, who recently tied the knot with Spider-Man’s Tom Holland, has often credited Stoermer as being her role model.

‘Growing up, I watched my mom teach in the heart of Oakland, California, at inner-city schools that were always underfunded. 

‘My mom went above and beyond, working constantly to open her students’ eyes to an education that could lift them far beyond their current circumstances,’ the performer told Teen Vogue in 2016.

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She continued: ‘She would introduce them to the arts, guide them through the language of Shakespeare, and show them the wonders of nature outside city life — all things that they wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.

‘Watching her was magical; it instilled within me a true appreciation of and devotion to the importance of education.’

Zendaya also told Ellen DeGeneres previously: ‘I gotta give it up to my parents. I’m really lucky to have the parents that I have. 

Zendaya also told Ellen DeGeneres previously: ‘I gotta give it up to my parents. I’m really lucky to have the parents that I have’

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‘They just have always instilled in me those core values that I think I have to carry with me through everything. I give it up to them, I give it up to my family.’ 

Zendaya shares Scottish and German ancestry on her mother’s side and African American on her father’s.

‘Zendaya knows about her Scottish heritage and is proud of it,’ Stoermer exclusively told the Daily Mail.

‘She hasn’t been to Scotland yet, but I know she’d love to visit some time.’

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The Red Arrows appeared underneath the clouds and appeared to delight pedestrians in the city centre, people working in the suburbs and further out.

The display team of six Hawk fast-jets even appeared to give a “trailing smoke” salute as they passed, before turning off in the direction of the Lake District.

The RAF aerobatic team was scheduled for a formation transit between 5.26pm and 6.30pm and were seen by York Press readers and visitors to our Facebook page in Acomb, Upper Poppleton and Walmgate, briefly from about 5.30pm.

It has been reported elsewhere that a Red Arrow flypast was scheduled on the route of premier men’s cycling event The Tour of Britain as a stage took place today close to the unit’s base at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

The Red Arrows will head up the 2026 International Ayr Show Festival of Flight in South Ayrshire tomorrow and Saturday.

Donald Trump has accused Prince Harry of treating his brother, the Prince of Wales, in a “very terrible” way.

Speaking about the rift between the heir to the throne and the Duke of Sussex, the US president also accused Meghan Markle of being a “horrible influence” on Harry.

In an interview with GB News, he said: “But I think that what she has done and him [Prince Harry], he wrote a book that was very terrible to William, it was terrible.

“The things he said, I wouldn’t…I mean, it’s just me. I’m sure I’m wrong on this, but I would not have taken him back. I would have never spoken to him again.”

Prince William and his younger brother have had a strained relationship since the Sussexes decided to step down from the Royal Family in 2020 and relocate to California.

It is believed they have not spoken in several years, and have not been seen publicly together since the King’s coronation in 2023. It is understood that they reunited privately at their uncle’s funeral in August 2024, but reportedly did not speak to one another.

In his memoir Spare, Harry detailed the breakdown of their relationship, which he claimed included a physical fight in 2019 which resulted in him being “knocked to the floor”.

Asked about the couple’s US exit, Mr Trump told the broadcaster that the couple had done “too many horrible things” to be taken back so easily.

He said: “First of all, I think King Charles is fantastic, he’s a friend of mine. Personally, I would not have taken them back.

“Too much hate, too many really bad things. He [Prince Harry] wrote a book that was so bad, and she was a horrible influence on him. What she’s done to him is unacceptable.”

Referring to the King again, the US president said that “everybody loved him” during his recent trip to Washington DC and New York.

He continued: “If I were King Charles, I would not take them back. There’s too much. He was here a couple of months ago, everybody loved him in America. He spoke in front of Congress, everybody loved him. He’s a fantastic guy.

“And he’s been a friend of mine for a long time. I knew him as Prince Charles, I know him as King Charles, and he’s amazing and he’s fighting through a very tough situation with his health, and very few people would have that bravery to do what he’s done.”

When presenter Bev Turner suggested that while there was “no relationship” between Harry and William, the King appears to have “offered an olive branch” to his son and daughter-in-law, Mr Trump responded: “It shows you what a good man King Charles is.

“He’s a much better person than I am, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have said forget it.”

It is not the first time Mr Trump has been critical of the couple. On Wednesday, he said he was “happy” to hear the news that Harry and Meghan had returned to live in the UK, and said he was “not a fan”.

The Sussexes returned last week alongside their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, ending a six-year period of living in the US to begin a new life.

Reports suggest the family intends to stay in the UK for an “extended period”, triggering debate over where they will establish their home, with the Cotswolds emerging as a likely location.

Having stepped down as working royals six years ago, Harry and Meghan have subsequently aimed criticism at the royal family and the monarchy during media appearances. They are expected to remain non-working royals.

While news of their unexpected move surfaced last month, just days before they made the journey back over to the UK, the Sussexes have not yet spoken publicly regarding their intentions.

Uncertainty remains over several details, including whether public money will be used to fund their security arrangements, after Harry previously raised concerns over his family’s safety in the UK.

By MATT STRUDWICK, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Published: 16:31 BST, 3 September 2026 | Updated: 22:26 BST, 3 September 2026

This is the moment a sex attacker moans to police that he ‘can’t be arrested’ after attempting to rape a woman near a train station in Canary Wharf. 

Syed Imam, 30, told Scotland Yard officers ‘it can’t be me’ and falsely accused security staff of lying after they saved the vulnerable female in an underpass. 

They had heroically stopped his attempted sex attack during the early hours of March 14 and detained him before police arrived, having seen him earlier acting suspiciously. 

In police bodycam footage, Imam is heard saying ‘I can’t be’ and smirks as an officer arrests him and reads him his rights. 

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He opens his mouth wide and accuses a security guard of lying after an officer explains to him that he had been seen leaving the Tube station with the woman.

Officers arrived within 30 minutes of the attack and took Imam into custody. He was charged within 24 hours. 

Today, he was jailed for six years for the attempted rape – two months after being found guilty following a four-day trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.  

The Met Police said the woman had no recollection of what had happened, but that evidence secured through CCTV and fast-paced investigative work allowed Imam to be interviewed, charged and remanded within 24 hours. 

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This is the moment sex attacker Syed Imam, 30, moans to police that he ‘can’t be arrested’ after attempting to rape a woman near a train station in Canary Wharf

Imam was today jailed for six years after being found guilty of attempted rape following a four-day trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court

Detective Constable Madeleine Powell, who worked on this case, hailed the crucial role security staff played in bravely tackling the ‘violent offender’.

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‘This case shows the important role everyone has to play in tackling violence against women and girls. If security staff at Canary Wharf had not bravely intervened, this violent offender could still be walking our streets, and the victim may have suffered even more harm than she already has.

‘Everyone has a part to play in the joint action needed to protect women and girls and report concerning behaviour when they see it – you will be listened to and we will take action.

‘I am proud of our officers who worked at an incredible pace to arrest Imam and present a compelling case, helping us to get justice for the victim and protect the public.’

A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘Throughout the process, dedicated support from specialist officers helped the victim understand the proceedings, remain engaged with the investigation and navigate the significant trauma she had experienced. 

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‘The case demonstrates how effective partnership working, victim-focused policing and swift evidence-led investigations can combine to secure justice in the most challenging circumstances.

‘Keeping women and girls safe is one of the Met’s top priorities and in the last year, the Met has more than doubled its positive outcomes, including arrests and charges for rape. 

‘The increases in positive outcomes are echoed across the board, with arrests and charges for general violence against women and girls (VAWG) offences up 71 per cent. These statistics reflect the determination of officers and partners to pursue offenders and bring them to justice, whilst also suggesting that more victims feel able to come forward and report offences.’

By QUENTIN LETTS, PARLIAMENTARY SKETCHWRITER

Published: 16:17 BST, 3 September 2026 | Updated: 22:30 BST, 3 September 2026

Kemi Badenoch chose a Victorian drill hall in London for her defence-spending speech. ‘Conflict is coming and we must act now,’ murmured the Tory leader in her snooker commentator voice.

Imagine the late Ted Lowe whispering ‘welcome to the apocalypse’ and you will have the idea. A savage message, delivered on a velvet cushion.

She presented war with Russia as an inevitability. This was not, she said, the plot of ‘a Tom Cruise movie’. It was ‘real and it is happening now’, although at present it was merely a ‘hybrid’ war. Worse could soon ensue.

We were at London Scottish House, a listed building on Westminster’s Horseferry Road, almost opposite Channel 4 (hostile agents). Some 200 Conservatives had filled a venue that was lined by London Scottish Rifles war memorials and paintings of long-dead martial gents, some with fabulous moustaches. Plaques listed battles such as Vimy Ridge, Anzio, Loos, Primosole Bridge. ‘Strike Sure’ barked the motto on a regimental shield.

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Mrs Badenoch stood in front of a long list of Rifles who died in the First World War – Johnstones, Kerrs, a Private Macbeth, a Corporal Haggis. Even the date, Sept 3, gnawed at one’s thoughts, this being the day in 1939 that war was declared on Germany. My mother’s life was never the same after that. War is not just about soldiers’ deaths. It throws childhood in the air and leaves emotional scars that last decades. Bloody Hitler.

The Conservatives had completed their sums, said Mrs B, and they now had a clear idea of how to push defence spending to 3 per cent of gross domestic product. This would be achieved by cutting welfare handouts, specifically housing benefits and the Motability cars scheme that has been so nakedly abused. You could say Motability took us for a ride. Mrs Badenoch recalled a story of people claiming a free car because they had tennis elbow.

Kemi Badenoch said we cannot properly defend ourselves by merely capping bus fares

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She delivered her speech on defence at London Scottish House, which was filled with plaques

Proceedings had been opened by the new Shadow Chancellor, Andrew Griffith. He is a slightly twitchy fellow. The eyes keep bulging. High-energy, mind you. He told the gathering that he had enlisted in the party ranks at the age of 14. Tributes were uttered to his predecessor, Sir Mel Stride, making it sound as if poor old Uncle Melvyn had taken a direct hit from a Hun howitzer rather than having merely been given the sack after an honourable run.

Mr Griffith’s contribution was mercifully short and Kemi came purring to the oche to predict the Third World War. ‘National security doesn’t just happen,’ she said. ‘We have to pay for it.’ And look at what our allies were doing: Poland was expanding its army to 300,000 troops, the Germans were aiming for 3.5 per cent on defence spending by 2035 and the Greeks were already there, which may be why their warships were able to get to Cyprus during the recent Middle East crisis while the Royal Navy was still loading baked beans on to the destroyer ‘Dragon’ in Portsmouth.

‘We cannot defend ourselves by capping bus fares,’ averred Mrs Badenoch. ‘If you want peace, you prepare for war.’ V. Putin was hardly going to wait to attack us until Labour had its spending plans ready. ‘Let’s get real and fund defence. Having more mayors is not going to save our country.’

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Then the impis appeared on the horizon, shaking their spears. One refers, naturally, to media colleagues. Why had recent Tory prime ministers not done more for defence? Mrs Badenoch said she was in charge now. Why hadn’t they cut welfare? Mrs Badenoch said they did.

A partisan from the BBC had a long old moan. Kemi bit his head off. A bluestocking from the Financial Times said something vaguely pinko but did so in such Zuleika Dobson tones, I quite forgot to listen to her question. Mrs B replied with even greater social poise. Fight posh with poshness. It is a theory of deterrence long understood in drawing rooms of the gentry by bellicose old trouts.

The Courteeners will play two shows at Middlesbrough Empire on Thursday, October 29, to promote their new album, God Bless The Band.

The Manchester group, fronted by Liam Fray, originally announced a single show at 5pm, but soon added an additional performance at 8pm due to high demand.

Both shows sold out within hours of going on sale at 10am on Thursday, September 3.

The Courteeners will play two intimate gigs at Middlesbrough Empire next month. (Image: Agency)

Middlesbrough Empire. (Image: Picture: MICHAEL ROBINSON)

The shows are being staged in partnership with Jacaranda Records, following the release of their latest album on August 28.

Formed in 2006, The Courteeners have built a huge following with hits including Not Nineteen Forever, What Took You So Long? and Are You In Love With A Notion?

The Middlesbrough shows are among the Empire’s biggest bookings in recent months.

“The annual cost of legacy to policing is £24 million.”

The PSNI has paid out almost twice as much in the past five years in legal costs in civil claims relating to Troubles incidents as it has in compensation to victims’ families, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has said.

Mr Boutcher called on the Stormont Executive and the Westminster government to “come together to find a funding mechanism to deal with these spiralling legacy costs”.

The Chief Constable told the Policing Board that he believed the financial cost of dealing with the Troubles “morally and legally” should sit with Westminster.

In his remarks to his oversight board, Mr Boutcher said it was “unacceptable” that Northern Ireland did not have a budget set by Stormont six months into the financial year.

He said the projected gap between PSNI spending and the indicative budget is £70 million.

He said: “It is impossible to discuss financial pressures without mentioning legacy. We continue to see legacy place an unsustainable and growing burden upon contemporary policing.

“The annual cost of legacy to policing is £24 million.”

The Chief Constable added: “These matters arose during direct rule from Westminster, and those liabilities and costs should not fall upon the already insufficient budget intended for policing the communities of Northern Ireland today.

“I call upon the Executive and Westminster government to come together to find a funding mechanism to deal with these spiralling legacy costs.

“The current position is not tenable.”

Board member Frank McManus asked how much had been paid out by the force to victims and in legal fees in civil cases.

Mr McManus said: “What I’m trying to get here is because I’ve seen quite a lot of cases of where the compensation has been very low, but the legal fees have been obscene.

“Let’s just call them what they are. They’re obscene.”

Mr Boutcher said from July 2021 to July 2026, the PSNI paid out £7.7 million in legacy compensation settlements to families, and £14.6 million on related legal costs.

He said: “Because we’re not funded for legacy, we don’t have an efficient model to deal with legacy.

“With a lot of these cases, particularly civil cases, because we don’t have the resource, we don’t have the ability to recover information.

“Technically, it has to be done by people because we don’t have the software. These cases go on for an inordinate amount of time.”

Mr Boutcher said there needed to be a system where claims are assessed earlier to “stop these unnecessary and extensive legal costs”.

He said the force was taking a “more forward-leaning approach with families” who have civil cases against the PSNI to try to reach an early settlement.

The Chief Constable added: “These cases from the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s…we’re 25 years old in November.

“This organisation, the Executive here, was not in place. Those costs, morally and I think legally, should sit with Westminster government, and I will continue to lobby.”

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