Record View says Starmer did no favours for Scottish Labour and a new approach, led by Sarwar, is required.

The psychodrama of events at Westminster has done untold damage to UK Labour.

Voters dislike split parties and Labour comes across as a divided rabble. Keir Starmer’s time is up and new ­leadership is required, so it is frustrating that the path to a contest is so ­complicated.

Wes Streeting appears not to have the required nominations and Andy Burnham needs to win a tricky by-election to get back to the Commons.

A Burnham premiership would likely be an improvement, but the fear is the damage has already been inflicted for the next general election. Scottish Labour, still wounded by another terrible defeat by the SNP, must learn lessons from the circus south of the Border.

This is not the time for a messy civil war in Scottish Labour – but there does need to be sober reflection on an election it lost by a mile. Anas Sarwar’s campaign should have offered more hope to voters, points made by a senior party official in our exclusive story today. His focus on 38 seats was also too ambitious and led to his party being stretched across constituencies it could not win.

But Sarwar is a major asset to Scottish Labour and he should have a big role at Holyrood over the next five years. The SNP government is facing a £4.7billion budget black hole and difficult decisions will need to be made.

Reform will not hold the SNP to account so Labour must step up to provide constructive opposition. It makes little sense for Scottish Labour to rush into its own leadership contest. It must instead review last week’s painful defeat and rethink its ­relationship with UK Labour. Starmer did no favours for Scottish Labour and a new approach, led by Sarwar, is required.

Thrill of the race

The eyes of the world will be on Scotland today as the title race goes down to the wire.

A challenge by Hearts to 40 years of Old Firm dominance has fired the imagination of football fans around the UK, Europe and the globe. And that means today’s title decider in Glasgow between Celtic and Hearts is a once-in-a-generation sporting event.

Most neutrals are desperate to see Hearts triumph in a David v Goliath battle against the Glasgow giants. But Celtic’s spectacular return to form with 74-year-old Martin O’Neill at the helm is also a remarkable story.

Lets hope the game itself lives up to the feverish expectation. But whatever happens today, both clubs must take great credit for making this a football season for the ages.

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Down will be hoping to build on their Ulster Championship win over Donegal when they take on Leitrim in the opening round of the Tailteann Cup at Páirc Esler, Newry, with a 6pm throw-in on Saturday

Down meet Leitrim this weekend in the opening round of the Tailteann Cup.

Down enter the fixture in excellent form following their Division Three league title triumph earlier this year and are expected to launch a serious challenge for the Tailteann Cup once more.

The Mournemen stunned Donegal in the Ulster Championship, cementing their position as arguably the leading contenders for the Tailteann Cup.

Leitrim, on the other hand, are seeking to build momentum following an inconsistent league and Connacht campaign and will be aiming to cause an upset in Newry.

Here’s what you need to know about the match:, reports the Irish Mirror.

Where is the match being played?

Páirc Esler, Newry.

What time is throw-in?

The match is scheduled to begin at 6pm on Saturday, May 16.

Can I watch the match on TV?

The fixture has not been selected for live free-to-air TV coverage, however, it is being shown on GAA+

Betting odds

Down – 1/8

Draw – 14/1

Leitrim – 7/1

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A reader has some very specific demands for the PlayStation 6, as he feels Sony has been stripping beloved features from its consoles since the days of the PlayStation 3.

I have been a long-time PlayStation fan since the days of the first PlayStation. The PS1 offered music CD support, as well as memory card storage, and gave birth to classic franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, and Gran Turismo. But I will now explain why I will be holding off from buying a PlayStation 6 and how Sony’s mistakes are the main reasons.

Sony divided the memory on the PlayStation 3, which was a huge problem for developers, as well as then deciding to forcibly strip features from the console, such as backwards compatibility (the ability to play disc-based PlayStation 2 games and removing PSN access that customers paid for, if they did not apply the update). This, along with the forced removal of Linux, did not help Sony at all.

The result of these bad choices was Sony unfortunately having to deal with a PSN hack which lost them billions. The PlayStation 4 does have good games and features, such as Live from PlayStation and an internet browser, as well as The Playroom which is great software for using the camera to broadcast your gameplay if you want to.

The PlayStation 5 has proven Sony does not learn from its mistakes. The Live from PlayStation tab from the PlayStation 4 is missing, as well as it not having a working internet browser, unless you use a trick to load it up. Sony’s rival, the Xbox Series X has an internet browser, which isn’t a great look for Sony and does not help me consider upgrading to a PlayStation 6.

Sony’s greatest success was with the PlayStation 2. Its amazing library of games, new sequels to the biggest games series, combined with its hardware being way ahead of its time ensured it sold over 160 million units.

Sony, with its PlayStation 6, needs to bring back popular features from the PlayStation 4, as well as making sure its latest Gran Turismo title is ready to play at launch. We gamers have been left waiting many years for a new Gran Turismo game and feel let down by the missing features in Gran Turismo 7, such as B-spec AI in races, which was useful in Gran Turismo 4, especially for long endurance races.

Sony should by now, in 2026, allow disc-based backwards compatibility for PlayStation 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 discs, as having to rebuy games you already own on disc is not fair to the consumer. There are emulators that have been released for the PC, that have been able to do this for years, even upscaled into 1080p, which does show Sony has some catching up to do.

If Sony does not bring these features and ensure a good line-up of games is ready then I will not be purchasing a PlayStation 6, as by that point it will just feel to me like an expensive paperweight and a waste of hard-earned money.

Sony should learn from its PlayStation 2 success and give us a real PlayStation to all be proud of and give gamers who are still on the PlayStation 4 a reason to jump ship. Am I alone in feeling this way?

By reader gaz be rotten (gamertag)

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

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“He said to me, ‘Gran, why didn’t I go after them?’ and I replied, ‘Because, they would have killed you’.”

A vulnerable grandmother says she has been left terrified to attend football matches again after allegedly being punched by a thug Celtic fan before their dramatic clash with Motherwell.

Patricia Stafford, was heading towards Fir Park with her grandson on Wednesday evening when horror unfolded before kick-off. Celtic would go on to snatch a dramatic 3-2 victory thanks to a last-minute penalty from Iheanacho but the 72-year-old from Ayr says the match was overshadowed by a shocking attack that left her bruised, shaken and suffering flashbacks.

The lifelong Motherwell supporter claims she was assaulted after a gang of youths who targeted her grandson for wearing a club scarf. The attack is alleged to have taken place on Knowtop Avenue outside of the gate to the John Hunter stand.

She said: “I go to Motherwell games with my grandson. We parked outside the ground early. We were walking to our gate.

“A lot of Celtic fans were around, then all of a sudden a group of six or seven in their late teens appeared.

“One of them jumped out of the crowd and grabbed my grandson’s scarf. He pulled him towards him.

“My instinct was to scream and when I did this, the Celtic fan threw a right hook and punched me right on the chin.

“He took his scarf and ran away.

“I have no idea why this happened. My grandson is not an ultra. He goes to the games with me and we sit together.

“He was totally defenceless when it happened.

“He said to me, ‘Gran, why didn’t I go after them?’ and I replied, ‘Because, they would have killed you’.

“They would have. They were in a big group and all of them would have gotten a kick into him.

“I always thought because he was with me, that he was safe. It’s really scary.”

The stunned gran, who was comforted by a passing group of Hoops fans following the alleged beating, says there were no officers nearby when it happened. Police Scotland has since launched a probe into the incident.

She said: “There were no police around because they were all up at the away section.

“An off-duty policewoman from Bellshill witnessed the full thing.

“She followed the boy to the away end. She went to officers there and pointed the boy out to them because she recognised the hole on the back of his trousers.

“The police told her they couldn’t do anything about it.

“I am just so disappointed in the police, they could have grabbed him and stopped him.”

Patricia, who was told by later told by officers that they would check CCTV in the area, says the ordeal has left her deeply traumatised.

She said: “It was so shocking and I was left shaken. The first aid checked on me but my face was all numb.

“The numbness started to disappear as the game went on and my neck started to ache and my back was sore. It was too much for me and we had to leave because I was in too much pain. We missed the last two goals.

“When I got home, I told my husband what had happened after he noticed the bruising on my face.

“I was so calm telling him but the minute I went to my bed, it all came flooding back to me.

“Every time I had a moment to think, I was having flashbacks. It was horrible and I was getting so upset.”

The gran has even considered giving up going to the football altogether after the incident.

She said: “After it happened, I asked my son, ‘Should I cancel my season ticket?’. He said, ‘Why should you?

“You’ve been going for years’. I ended up renewing my season ticket because I can’t let them win.”

But ahead of Motherwell’s away clash against Hibs at Easter Road on Saturday, Patricia admits she is now filled with dread.

She said: “My grandson and I have tickets for the Hibs away game on Saturday.

“When we purchased them, we thought it would be a lovely day out going to watch Motherwell via the train. Now I’m panicking and I don’t want to go.

“I tried to sort a seat on a supporters bus but they were all sold out. I feel vulnerable going myself and would feel safer in numbers.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “On the evening of Wednesday, 13 May, 2026, police received a report of an assault in the Knowtop Avenue area of Motherwell. Enquiries into the incident are ongoing.”

Motherwell and Celtic were approached for comment.

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Prince William changed his tune when it came to Prince George’s loyalties

Prince William had a change of heart after previously telling his son Prince George to support any club but Chelsea. The Blues are set to face Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

It has been a turbulent season for Chelsea, who sit ninth in the Premier League, as the club look to round off the campaign with a trophy. Interim boss Calum McFarlane will lead the side at Wembley Stadium after the club parted company with two managers, Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, this term.

The west London outfit will not be considered favourites against City as they bid to lift the iconic trophy for the ninth time in their history. Prince William had previously instructed his eldest child not to support Chelsea and was disappointed that he initially went against his wishes, though the future King has since shown his true colours by allowing his son to pick his own team.

In 2019, during an appearance on the BBC’s A Berry Royal Christmas, Prince William was quizzed about Prince George’s blossoming passion for football. “I try not to be too biased, I said you can support anyone but Chelsea, so naturally he supports Chelsea,” he said.

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Prince William is a devoted Aston Villa supporter, as evidenced by his jubilant reaction during the team’s recent 4-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at Villa Park. The 43-year-old was delighted as Unai Emery’s side secured their place in the Europa League final.

The Prince of Wales has attended numerous Villa matches over the years, including their Champions League quarter-final away leg against Paris Saint-Germain last season. He attended the match alongside Prince George, whom he hopes will become a Villa supporter, yet made clear that the 12-year-old was free to support whichever team he chose, representing a change of tone from his earlier remarks about Chelsea.

“I’m genuinely open to whoever they support,” Prince William told TNT Sports. “I’m a bit biased but also they come to Villa games so they’re probably going to support Villa. I’ve left the other two at home tonight so we’ll wait and see who they support.”

The royal had already begun to soften his position on Prince George becoming a Chelsea fan during Frank Lampard’s first spell as manager in 2020. “It’s about finding what fits for him,” Prince William said on That Peter Crouch podcast.

“Previously, I was a bit concerned about him supporting Chelsea, but now Frank’s come in, I feel the culture’s a bit different at Chelsea and I’d be okay with it.

“I do like the values and the ethos of the clubs. I want them to look after the players and set a good example to the young fans.

“I want our children, when they go the match, to come away loving what they’ve seen, enjoying it and seeing their role models behave in a way that we’d all want them to.”

Prince William will have his footballing attention firmly fixed on Villa’s Europa League final clash against Freiburg on Wednesday, 20 May. The Villans stand just one match away from their first major silverware since 1996.

He was spotted punching the air with joy as Villa put on a commanding 4-0 performance against Forest and he spent time with the squad after the final whistle. Villa manager Emery explained: “He was in the dressing room with the players and with me, and of course, he is so happy as well.”

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In little over a year, December 10 have emerged as one of the fastest growing new acts in British pop, racking up more than 16 million streams and over 8.4 million YouTube views

Boyband December 10 have opened up on what it’s like working with Simon Cowell and why they feel lucky to have him as a mentor.

The lads consist of Cruz Lee-Ojo (19), Danny Bretherton (17), Hendrick Christoffersen (19), John Fadare (17), Josh Olliver (17), Nicolas Alves (16) and Sean Hayden (19). They are from Chorley, Rochester, Dublin, London, Lisbon and Walsall, and between them Irish, Brazilian, Indian, Nigerian and Jamaican heritage

The seven-piece group were formed by pop guru Simon Cowell on the Netflix series Simon Cowell: The Next Act.

In little over a year, December 10 have emerged as one of the fastest growing new acts in British pop, racking up more than 16 million streams, over 8.4 million YouTube views and building a social media following of more than 3.2 million people.

READ MORE: British man breaks his neck falling out of a tree on French holiday – and is left with huge medical billsREAD MORE: Student dies after jumping into Alabama lake while celebrating college graduation

Speaking in January, Cowell, who launched the careers of the likes of Leona Lewis, Little Mix, Susan Boyle and One Direction, admitted he formed December 10 as he missed the buzz of managing a boy band.

“I just got to a point where I felt so comfortable. And I think when you feel comfortable, it gets boring,” he told The Times.

“Even though I like my job, what I used to do was just so much more risky. Did I need to do it? No. But you know when you go to Disneyland, you look at one of those rides and you think, ‘I’m not sure I should do this, but I’m going to do it anyway’? It’s that adrenaline. I really missed working with bands.”

Now they have opened up about life in the music industry and have detailed what it’s like to work with Simon.

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When asked if they are in regular contact with Simon, Danny said: “Yeah, we talk to him a lot. We were all at his house the other day for a barbecue chilling but also talking about the next steps that we’re going to go through. We couldn’t ask for anyone better to guide use what we’re going through at the minute.”

As you can expect a barbecue at Simon’s house is quite the event and Simon doesn’t get his hands dirty flipping burgers. When asked if Simon got stuck into the cooking Danny said: “Nah!” To which Sean interjected: “We had chef Jeff to do that!”

When asked if Simon leads the suggestions with songwriters and producers they can work with, Danny said: “He’s definitely got a good say, but we’re lucky that he’s happy for us to give our input a lot of the time. We respect him for doing that.”

The band are in regulat contact with Simon, despite his hehtic schedule. Nicholas said: “Obviously with Simon he’s had so many years in this industry and he has so much experience so every opportunity we get to spend time with him he’s always imparting his wisdom upon us. It’s just a really good thing to have him as our mentor we’re really lucky to have him by our side.”

Their tour started next month and will see them travel from Amsterdam to Berlin, Paris and almost everywhere inbetween.

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Hughes Hall bought the land three years ago but residents still fear the college’s plans for new buildings will leave them ‘horribly enclosed’

Residents are still concerned about plans to build next to Fenner’s cricket ground as Hughes Hall prepares to submit a full planning application.

The Cambridge University college bought the land three years ago with plans to build student accommodation there. It has since held a series of drop-in events for residents. Several drawings have been shared and a full planning application is expected to be submitted before July.

Hughes Hall said the new buildings are needed to “improve and increase academic spaces”. They are also intended allow more students to be housed on-campus so they can “benefit from a supportive community environment” and reduce reliance on the private rental market, since only around 34% of Hughes Hall students can currently be housed on campus.

The college has proposed building on four sites. One that will replace an existing pavilion at the Margaret Wileman building has caused Covent Garden residents concern.

Eileen O’Brien, landlady of the Six Bells and Covent Garden resident, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she fears the new building will block light from reaching her back garden.

The 69-year-old said: “We would feel horribly enclosed, it would block out the light and, frankly, I think a lot of my neighbours would think about selling and the community that’s been established here for decades would be decimated.”

Hughes Hall will be demolishing the existing pavilion, which the college says is no longer able to support academic requirements.

Eileen said the one to two-storey building is already “massive” and the college wants to replace it with a three-storey building. This has been updated to partly two storeys on the latest published plans.

She said: “For years, people kept saying to me – ‘why have you got a spacecraft in the back garden?’ I’ve got used to it and now they want to build a three-storey block of student accommodation in my back yard.”

Plans published online show the replacement building stepping from two to three storeys and further back from the boundary than the pavilion. To stop the rooms from looking directly into back gardens, frosted glass has been proposed.

Eileen said: “How horrible to live somewhere where you can’t look out the window – like living in a toilet. Not very nice for the students who’ll be there for nine months – not very nice for the residents who’ve been here for decades.”

Glisson Road resident Andrew Warren shared concerns that it could set a precedent and said that protected open space “ought to be sacrosanct”. The 77-year-old said: “There are not very many of these spaces in central Cambridge and certainly not in the Petersfield area and we want to see that retained.

“If you get the right to develop part of Fenner’s – and we have the tennis courts right there – once the council has set the precedent of saying, yes, you can do that – then it’s much more difficult to say no in planning terms.”

Covent Garden resident Ian Bent said it’s “almost the home of cricket” and said the situation had been “frustrating” for residents.

The 88-year-old said: “When they purchased this land they wanted to build all the way along, and a three-storey building behind Glisson Road. It was our resistance that prevented them from doing that but they still, stubbornly, insist on building on this land.”

Tony Murphy, another local resident, compared their fight to David versus Goliath. He said he fears they won’t hear the birds sing anymore when the trees are cut down during construction.

The 71-year-old said: “We get sunlight quite late in the evening in our back gardens, so it’s lovely to sit out and read a book or something – that’s all going to be gone. Hopefully now we’ve got a Green politician, maybe they’ll lean more towards our side.” A petition was started on Change.org around two years ago and is now approaching 5,000 signatures.

Sir Laurie Bristow, president of Hughes Hall, thanked residents for joining drop-in sessions and said the college had listened to feedback. He said: “In response to resident feedback, we have moved as much of the proposed development away from our neighbours as possible with 70% of new student accommodation now proposed on two previously developed brownfield sites.

“We have also reduced the size of the Pavilion Building replacement, Wileman Court, to two storeys adjacent to the Covent Garden boundary, only stepping up to three storeys at the front to match the height of the existing Margaret Wileman Building. We are also proposing site-wide landscaping and gardens, and are talking to our immediate neighbours about new pedestrian access on Covent Garden.

“These changes will give both the College and neighbours access to more and better open spaces.”

Tobutt Sports, in Astley Bridge, said in this year alone there’s been an increase in people taking up the exercise- and it goes much further than simply losing weight.

It comes as some groups in the borough have seen more people aiming to hit 5k runs, which are just over three miles, and even further.

It’s not just at daytime. (Image: Mel Goodall)

Mandy Foster, from the fourth generation of the Tobutt Family, said: “This last year, there’s been a huge increase in the younger generation

“From a business point of view, it was really good last year, and it affected us positively.

“We’re happy to keep going, and I can’t see it running down. It is so good to see the streets filled with people doing it.”

Dougie Tobutt, Phoebe Foster and Mandy Foster. (Image: Tobutt Sports)

Tobutt Sports is a family-run business which was founded in 1923 by Len Tobutt, who was a professional cricketer from Middlesex.

They’re not the only enthusiasts who have noticed there’s more people hitting the ground, quite literally, running.

Mel Goodall, 50, set up the Cutacre running group, which sees people from Over Hulton getting together each week to overcome distance challenges.

Mel Goodall on a run. (Image: Mel Goodall)

So far, Mel has seen that more people have started running since the end of last year, and the sunny season quickly approaching is also to blame.

She said: “Running is such a popular thing. I’ve been marathoning now for the past 25 years and wasn’t as popular even 20 years ago.”

“It’s been fantastic to see so many people coming to it and going through my Couch to 5k programme, saying they’re so proud.

A group of runners in the centre. (Image: Mel Goodall)

“Mental health has been a big driver; we’ve been told to get in the fresh air, and also socialising with like-minded people has been a driver.”

The mother-of-two said it’s people in their 20s that are the main group you’ll see when on the pavements.

What both of these have in common, other than athletics, is how they’ve noticed HYROX has garnered more attention for the sport.

Runners from Cutacre running club. (Image: Mel Goodall)

HYROX is a global, standardised indoor fitness competition that combines running with functional strength training. It is designed for everyday gym-goers and athletes alike.

Mel added: “It’s mentally a big learning curve, you have to be very resilient, for that distance. It’s pushing yourself through discomfort.

“I am just looking forward to the next year, looking to get more people through.”