When Andy Burnham ascends the No10 staircase to the flat above, he finds the portraits of his predecessors looking down on him.

Some, like Margaret Thatcher, will provoke a shudder in his socialist soul. He will gaze at others, like the Labour reformer Clem Attlee, and wonder if he too will one day claim a great radical legacy.

But there is one figure, above all, who should give him cause to stop and reflect on what it is to be genuinely progressive – to be a proper liberator of working people.

William Gladstone was the greatest prime minister of the Victorian Age. He introduced free education; gave votes, at last, to the labouring classes; and established trade-union rights. He even had his own version of No 10 North, his base in Hawarden, in north Wales, from where he developed his vision for greater devolution.

In 1879, Gladstone gave one of his most famous speeches. In the course of his oration he invoked Pericles, Virgil and Dryden. He discussed the merits of the Austro-Hungarian foreign minister Andrassy’s strategy for religious reform in the Balkans and how the Treaty of San Stefano affected peace there. In the same address, Gladstone enumerated the advantages of Free Trade, discussed the folly of land reform and the break up of great estates as a remedy for agricultural distress.

He then went on to argue that wealth creators should be free from every unjust and unnecessary legislative restraint.

That masterpiece of oratory was not, however, given in the House of Commons or addressed to a rarefied audience of academics in an ivory tower. Gladstone was speaking to a crowd of agricultural labourers and coal miners in the central belt of Scotland. And he held them spellbound for more than four hours. 

By way of contrast, Andy Burnham took to TikTok last week for three minutes to discuss the relative merits of pork scratchings and scampi fries with his Chancellor of the Exchequer. Which Prime Minister, one might ask, showed greater faith in working people?

In one of his most famous speeches in 1879, Gladstone enumerated the advantages of Free Trade, and discussed the folly of land reform. He then went on to argue that wealth creators should be free from every unjust and unnecessary legislative restraint

The problem at the heart of Burnham’s Labour, so far as we have seen him attempt to govern so far, is not the scale of its progressive goals, but the poverty of its ambition. The Burnham vision for working people is not to raise their sights to a more spacious, elevated and aspirational future but to settle for knowing their place.

We have seen it already not just in his communications style, but in the outline of his emerging policy agenda.

He has favoured social media posts with ‘influencers’ like Bus Aunty to signpost his commitment to lower fares, or knowing tweets about his T-shirts to signal relatability, instead of developing detailed intellectual arguments – tested, costed and rooted in data – to underpin his announcements.

Those announcements, insofar as they are developed, have also been cast in terms designed to roll back what Burnham sees as 40 years of failed ‘neoliberalism’ but which many others might consider times during which working people saw their opportunities expanded.

Take housing. One of the greatest achievements of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, a period Burnham holds up as an era of failure where the dreaded march of neoliberalism laid the country waste, was the massive expansion of home ownership.

New homes were built and, crucially, council houses were offered for sale to their tenants. Millions benefited from the security and pride which comes from having a place of your own. Home ownership makes it easier to raise a family, weather the storms of life and hand on to your children an asset earned by your own hard work.

But for Burnham, the sale of council houses was the erosion of the state socialism he romanticises and wants to rehabilitate. He has indeed talked of building more homes. But his sole focus has been on building more council houses. He wants to recreate the council estates of the past, not help more on to the property ladder.

As a former housing secretary, I certainly agree we need more affordable homes for rent, but we need more homes of every kind, especially beautiful new homes for those currently locked out of property ownership.

The problem at the heart of Burnham’s Labour, so far as we have seen him attempt to govern so far, is not the scale of its progressive goals, but the poverty of its ambition, writes Michael Gove

But helping people to acquire their own home is nowhere in the Burnham agenda. Working people should – once again – be satisfied with a council house, with the public sector owning their family home. They should know their place.

It’s the same, even more sadly, in education. One of the rare cross-party successes of recent decades has been the improvement in our state schools. Starting under Ken Baker in 1988 – when ‘neoliberalism’ was just getting into its stride – there has been a steady focus on the policies which give children a brighter start in life.

More freedom for heads to run schools independent of municipal socialist control. A stretching curriculum. Regular testing. Rigorous exams. Tough inspections. Giving more and more pupils the sort of education that used to be available only to the rich or the lucky few who made it to grammar school.

Tony Blair, whatever his other sins, built on these successes. He set up academy schools outside council control and appointed tough chief inspectors like the late Chris Woodhead to drive up standards. When I was education secretary under the Coalition government we accelerated that drive, with a majority of schools becoming academies. We set up new ‘free schools’ and they are now among the most successful educational establishments in the world.

Schools such as Katharine Birbalsingh’s Michaela in Wembley Park or Mercia Academy in Sheffield give children from disadvantaged and working-class backgrounds stunning GCSE results – which open up the prospect of university study to students from every home.

More than half of Mercia’s pupils go to one of our top 30 universities. Fewer than 3 per cent of their students – and they come from some of the poorest neighbourhoods in Sheffield – end up ‘Neet’, not in education, employment or training.

We also made exams tougher – and demanded mastery of the basics – with tests for spelling, punctuation and grammar and a wider range of knowledge in the curriculum.

The result has been that England now has the best state schools in the Western world, according to international comparisons. Our students outperform other countries in literacy, numeracy and science. By contrast, in Scotland and Wales, where students are just as bright but our reforms were never introduced, educational performance has crashed, with those nations tumbling behind our competitors.

Now Burnham and his Education Secretary Lucy Powell want to turn back the clock on that progress. They want more municipal control of education – an end to ‘neoliberalism’ – even though freeing schools from council control has improved outcomes, especially for the poorest, who were once stuck in sink schools.

Powell has criticised the spelling, punctuation and grammar tests which have improved literacy outcomes and which are the building blocks of fluency and creativity. And she has even promised to reverse what she considers an ‘over-focus’ on academic outcomes which she thinks alienates children from more disadvantaged backgrounds. In other words – working-class children should know their place and not aspire to excellence – that would be getting above themselves.

They’ll be expecting to go to uni next and buy a house – and then where would we be…

Well, following exactly the route which Burnham and Powell took, actually. Burnham is, although he does his best to disguise it, a deeply cultured, literate and highly educated Cambridge graduate. He has read every Shakespeare play, is devoted to George Eliot’s 900-page masterpiece of Victorian social realism, Middlemarch, and can talk bewitchingly about poetry from Chaucer to Larkin.

But his Government is now saying the ‘over-focus’ on academic outcomes which opens up the best that has been thought and written to all must end. Working-class kids don’t aspire to academic excellence. Do as I say, not as I do.

Powell, too is, in person, a fearsomely bright and articulate politician. She is engaging, warm, witty and sharp. As Robert Hardman reported in these pages last week, she was one of a number of students from an outstanding sixth-form college in Manchester who won a place at Oxbridge.

But she now damns her time at Oxford in the 1990s – saying her college, Somerville, was ‘stuffy’ and she felt like a ‘fish out of water’ as a state school pupil there. That would have come as something of a surprise to another state school girl who studied chemistry at Somerville in the 1940s – Margaret Thatcher.

And anyone who remembers Oxford University in the 1990s – with state school presidents of the Union and the Labour Club dominating student politics –would hardly consider it a model of the early chapters of Brideshead Revisited. Again, Powell is signalling to aspirational working-class children that they should not try to get above themselves by thinking they’ve as much right to be at the top table as anyone else. They’ll only be a fish out of water.

Powell and Burnham have both recently reinforced the idea that the aspiration they appear to embody is not a path to emulate – Burnham by saying that he felt ‘imposter syndrome’ at Cambridge and arguing the job market for even top graduates like him was rigged in favour of the privileged. So, by implication, working-class kids shouldn’t even try to compete in those environments. And Powell by saying that her ideal job was working at TopShop – not immersing herself in the study of complex inorganic structures at college. The message from both is, again: working-class kids, stay in your lane.

Trivial as it may be, even the clothing choices of Team Burnham are subtly and not so subtly designed as a rejection of the idea of the aspirational – what the French call ‘epater le bourgeoisie’.

Burnham’s ubiquitous T-shirts – even worn when meeting President Zelensky – are not so much relatable dad chic as a determined eschewal of the whole notion of suited and booted upward mobility. Put on a tie? That would mean joining the boss class – not for the likes of us.

There is everything to be said for pride in working Britain – its traditions, solidarity and sentiments. It was working-class voters who saw through the dangers of appeasement in the 1930s and delivered the Brexit liberation in 2016. Many working-class communities have been overlooked and undervalued, their principal economic engines hollowed out by globalisation. Burnham is not wrong to want greater respect for working Britain – and if Labour pays more attention to working-class communities on questions like gender, crime and migration on his watch, there will be cause to cheer.

But alongside respect for those sentiments, there should also be equal value placed on the working-class tradition of aspiration, improvement and ambition.

My mum and dad both left school at 15 and were Labour voters – but they were also Brexit-supporting, home-owning believers in the liberating power of education – voracious readers who encouraged their children to devote themselves to learning and hard work.

In the academic Jonathan Rose’s magnificent study, The Intellectual Life Of The Working Classes, he charts how, from the time of Gladstone onwards, the universal experience of working-class communities was a commitment to self-improvement with weavers propping up classics on their looms to read at work and miners borrowing works of philosophy and history from their local lending library to inform their debates with workmates.

Maybe, this summer, the private, scholarly, Burnham could read Rose’s great work, perhaps alongside a biography of Gladstone, and indeed my colleague Charles Moore’s superlative life of Margaret Thatcher, and come to reflect on the fact that working people are not served by the soft bigotry of low expectations but liberated by higher standards, expectations of excellence and the ambition to learn, earn and own.

Perhaps he can be persuaded that communicating with people in 90-second social media reels is not greater accountability but a surrender to the lowering tendencies of the attention economy.

And, though this may be too much to hope, he will enrich his future speeches with the Shakespearean knowledge, critical wisdom and deep humane learning he acquired.

Andy Burnham has achieved his long-term ambition by becoming Prime Minister. Now it is up to him to make ambition – raising it, praising it, extending it – the defining mission for his premiership.

Michael Gove is the editor of The Spectator. 

The migrant crisis sparked by a border breach in the Spanish enclave Ceuta deepened on Saturday, as Spain accused EU countries of a “selfish” response.

More than 60 people are now reported to have died after around 60,000 crossed into the North African territory from Morocco on Thursday in extraordinary scenes.

The incident has caused division in the EU, with Italy temporarily suspending the border-free Schengen arrangement with Madrid in a move backed by Finland and Denmark.

The EU has now called an emergency meeting of national ministers on Tuesday to discuss the issue, after separate calls from Spain and 22 other members of the block.

“In the current international context, the European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez said in a letter addressed to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, raising “serious concerns” about the response of some countries.

US president Donald Trump has also waded into the row, calling the Ceuta incident a “catastrophe”. In a further statement, his administration accused Mr Sánchez’s left-wing government of “deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe” while vice-president JD Vance described the situation as an “invasion of the West”.

“I saw Spain yesterday, and I watched the catastrophe that took place. It looks like an invasion of a country,” Mr Trump said in a cabinet meeting on Friday.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni described the footage as “shocking” and called on European nations to urgently respond to illegal immigration.

“It is an important signal: the line that Italy has long supported is today shared by an ever-growing number of European nations,” she said, after 22 of 27 EU members signed a letter calling for tougher action.

“Defending the external borders of the union is not the interest of a single nation. It is a shared responsibility of Europe.”

In the letter to Ireland, which holds the bloc’s rotating presidency, the countries said the crossings challenged the EU’s ‌external frontier and risked encouraging further illegal migration.

The Schengen area is a large zone in Europe comprising 29 countries including France, Germany and Italy, in which people can travel freely without border passport checks.

Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen urged the EU to “consider all options, including a suspension of Schengen co-operation”. France has tightened checks on its border with Spain and said it would increase its police presence by Saturday.

Mr Sánchez and his senior officials have criticised the response, stating: “Solidarity and empathy are optional. Respect for European treaties and data is not.”

“Such an attitude – driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest – is contrary to European law, humanitarian law, and the principles of solidarity that bind us together,” he added.

Meanwhile the UK’s prime minister Andy Burnham has offered to support Spain, without going into specifics.

“I have been in touch with the Spanish prime minister and (we are) providing what help we can,” he said in brief remarks at rally to celebrate Labour’s Greater Manchester mayoral win on Saturday.

Officials in Spain have said that the vast majority of those who reached the Spanish territory on 30 and 31 July have been returned to Morocco, and blamed the crisis on human traffickers and criminal networks.

Police have begun installing a 500-metre floating barrier to act as a further deterrent, after dozens of migrants drowned or died in a stampede as they reached the border.

During a visit to Ceuta, the Spanish leader called the incident a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”.

“Trafficking mafias took a self-serving interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling” which “spread like wildfire”, he said.

In June, Spain’s supreme court had ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla could not be summarily returned to Morocco without due process.

Chaotic scenes emerged on Thursday as tens of thousands of migrants attempted to make the crossing into Ceuta, a city of around 84,000 residents.

Moroccan forces beat back crowds with batons and tear gas at the gates to Ceuta, trying to prevent more from entering the tiny territory. More than 48,000 migrants returned to Morocco within 48 hours without major incident, Spain said.

“The return of people has begun satisfactorily but the process must be completed,” said the region’s president Juan Jesus Vivas on Saturday. “The city has not yet returned to normal.”

Moroccans who tried to cross into Ceuta have spoken out having returned to their country, to explain why they attempted the dangerous crossing.

Abdulah Buji, a 21 year-old aspiring teacher, had sped to the border on his motorbike after hearing about the security breach.

“Spain gives you the chance to make your future, not like Morocco,” he told the Associated Press. “I am a talented boy. I just want a chance.

“I’ve spent perhaps 14 years studying, but there’s nothing at home, and I’d have to work 12-hour shifts for a meager wage.

“That’s why I came here, but I haven’t found any opportunities here either, so I have to go back.”

Is there a ‘right’ way to move on from a failed relationship?

After an affair shattered her marriage, this week’s reader is trying her best to navigate single life.

She has no interest in ‘competing’ with her unfaithful ex in the ‘happy families stake’ — she really just wants a good roll around in the hay.

But it’s proving to be more difficult than she expected.

Keep reading to hear Laura’s advice, but before you go, check out last week’s dilemma, from a woman whose claustrophobic mum is ruining her dating life.

The problem…

Three years ago, my marriage broke down after my husband left me for our au pair. It was a desperate time for me, as I thought we were really happy until she came along.

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Hi, my name is Laura Collins, and every week I write Metro’s Sex Column.

I’ve been working in newspapers since completing my counselling training 30 years ago, and it’s always a privilege to help readers.

If you enjoy my column, you should sign up for our weekly newsletter. It has it all – expert tips, steamy stories, and everything in between.

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Sign up now. And if you have a sex, dating or relationship dilemma, get in touch!

I work full-time a few miles away, whereas he ran his own company from home, which involved him spending lots of time with her. I frequently came home after a hard day in the office to piles of untouched washing and ironing, but he always defended her and said she’d been busy doing ‘other things’.

Eventually, he announced that he was leaving to start a new life with her, which devastated me. They’re still together and by all accounts are very happy.

My children adore her, so I try to be grown-up about it and never show how upset I am when they go to their dad’s.

I’ve avoided serious relationships since the split and am not interested in settling down with anyone. I don’t want to compete with my ex in the ‘happy families’ stakes.

I’m not unattractive and have no shortage of dates, but I find that most of the guys I meet don’t take me seriously when I say I only want sex and a good time, nothing more. A lot of men want to ‘fix’ me or try to convince me that they’re the one who could make me happy again.

I honestly only want casual sex without any hassle, but it’s harder than I imagined it would be.

Everton are considering a move for young Man Utd striker Ethan Wheatley during the summer transfer window.

Everton are considering a shock transfer offer for Manchester United striker Ethan Wheatley, with the Toffees wanting to sign the academy graduate on a permanent deal.

The move would be intended to bolster Everton’s academy, but it’s understood talks aren’t yet at an advanced stage for the 20-year-old, who has featured in pre-season for United this summer.

A potential switch to the Hill Dickinson Stadium comes as something of a surprise, with United so far weighing up proposals for a loan move to the Championship for the striker this season.

The interest comes with former United academy director Nick Cox now technical director at Everton, and Cox was a big admirer of Wheatley during his time at Old Trafford. In 2024 he became the club’s 250th academy graduate to make a first-team appearance when coming off the bench against Sheffield United in the Premier League.

Wheatley spent the first half of last season on loan at Northampton Town, scoring three goals in 22 appearances in League One. He moved to Bradford City in January to be part of a promotion push to the Championship but struggled for game time and failed to find the back of the net in 12 appearances.

The Stockport-born striker joined United’s academy at the age of nine and has progressed through the ranks while playing for England at Under-17 to Under-20 level.

He played 45 minutes against Wrexham in the first pre-season friendly of the summer, but was in the squad for the Under-21s’ game against Altrincham on Friday night.

A British woman was seen befriending homeless people just days before her body was found in a suitcase in Athens, fuelling speculation that she was a ‘good Samaritan’ killed by someone she was trying to help. 

Elizabeth-Jane Ross, 38, a committed Christian dedicated to helping vulnerable groups, was discovered by a vagrant stuffed into a suitcase in an abandoned car park in the Kypseli district on July 18. 

She had been spotted by locals speaking with homeless people close to the derelict site where they sleep rough, drink alcohol and take drugs. 

She is believed to have regularly visited Greece over the past seven years helping vulnerable social groups including abused women and migrants – and is also thought to have been moved by the plight of the homeless. 

Ms Ross, from Edinburgh, known as Lisa, had travelled the world carrying out charitable works based on her strong faith, including spending time in Kurdistan helping Syrian refugees. 

Maria, a pensioner in Kypseli, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I saw a foreign woman speaking with some of the homeless around here. I didn’t think it was strange because you get all kinds of people coming here to help them. 

‘I was shocked when I saw the photographs in the newspapers of the woman found in a suitcase and realised that it was the same woman I had seen speaking with homeless people just a few days earlier. 

‘It breaks my heart to think that something like this happened to a person who was clearly kind and loving. I hope the police catch this person as quickly as possible so that we can know what really happened to her.’

Pictured: the district in Kypseli where the body of Ms Ross was found inside a suitcase 

Ada, a refugee from Nigeria, said: ‘All kinds of people come here to help homeless people and others like me who are poor. 

‘I didn’t speak with this woman but saw her speaking to the homeless on the street and thought she was one of those who’d come here to do “God’s work.” May her soul rest in peace.’

Police strongly believe that she was killed by someone she knew but have been unable to establish the extent of that friendship.

Greek police are desperately trying to find a homeless man named ‘Markos’ who haunts the Kypseli district and is known to carry a knife and has a reputation for being aggressive towards women. 

He is described as aged around 40, heavily tattooed with black hair and a stocky build.

Markos regularly slept rough in the derelict space where the suitcase was found but has not been seen there since the discovery of Ms Ross’s body – sparking a citywide manhunt. 

Police have revealed that Ms Ross arrived in Athens from Edinburgh on June 26 and was staying with Greek friends in the Keratsini district, the country’s main seaport close to the city.

She then told the friends on July 15 she was leaving to go to Kypseli – a more central part of Athens. 

Police have been questioning residents, shopkeepers and other homeless people around Kypseli in recent days

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The cause of death has still not been confirmed, but an initial examination of the body showed no obvious wounds or signs of struggle 

She was discovered dead 72 hours later, with police now trying to piece together what took place during that crucial period.

Officials are also investigating whether the killer sent messages from Ms Ross’s phone and posted on her Facebook page after her death in an attempted cover-up.

Ms Ross’s father, a lawyer from Edinburgh, told officers he had been receiving messages from July 15 to July 29.

Police believe her body was brought to the abandoned building on July 17. It is thought that due to the weight of the suitcase, the killer or killers are likely to have been staying in or around Kypseli.

The suitcase was only discovered after a homeless man spotted the suitcase and then threw it in an attempt to open it, leading to a leg popping out.

The cause of death has still not been confirmed but an initial examination of the body showed no obvious wounds or signs of struggle. According to reports, an examination has ruled out strangulation and head injuries.

Mentari, who is as tall as a traffic cone, was born at Chester Zoo at the end of June

Chester Zoo has announced the birth of the world’s smallest buffalo – standing at just 50cm tall and weighing 7kg.

Mentari, a rare anoa dwarf buffalo, was was born at Chester Zoo on June 27 after Mum Darcy’s ten-month pregnancy.

The tiny arrival – who is the height of a traffic cone – could grow to weigh up to 300kg (47st) and stand a metre tall when fully grown.

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Adorable pictures show the calf taking her first steps while being watched by proud mum Darcy.

Emma Evison, Team Manager at the zoo, said: “Mum Darcy and her new baby are doing brilliantly.

“After spending her first couple of weeks bonding with mum in the safety of their cosy den, the little one has grown in strength and confidence and is now beginning to explore the outside world.

“She’s already showing plenty of personality and seeing her take those first steps outside is a real privilege – it’s something very few people will ever get the chance to witness.

“Every anoa birth is hugely important for the future of this endangered species.”

Only 2,500 anoa are thought to be remaining in the wild, and the species is listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Lowland anoa are found in the forests and swamps of a single Indonesian island, Sulawesi, and their numbers are dwindling thanks to poachers and habit loss.

The species is considered the smallest buffalo, while wild water buffalo are four times bigger at 2m (6.6ft) tall and weighing up to 1,200kg.

Chester Zoo is also part of a wider global partnership working to secure a future for anoas.

Amy Humphreys, South East Asia field conservationist, said: “Our aim is to make sure the precious genetic diversity of these amazing animals is not lost forever.

“To do this, our plans include scientific monitoring of anoas, new local education programmes in Indonesia, raising global awareness of the threats anoas face, and coordinating conservation breeding programmes.

“This new calf, born as part of that international effort, will now go on to play an important role in protecting the future of her species.”

Taylor Swift‘s decade-long friendship with Blake Lively finally imploded after the actress allegedly threatened to expose years of the superstar singer’s most intimate secrets unless she lied about Blake’s Super Bowl snub in 2025, the Daily Mail can reveal. 

Lively, 37, who famously watched the 2024 Super Bowl alongside Swift from her now husband Travis Kelce‘s VIP suite, was noticeably absent when the Kansas City Chiefs returned to the NFL championship game in New Orleans the following February. 

At the time, speculation of a falling out between the two best friends had reached fever pitch after Swift, 36, had been sensationally dragged into Lively’s bitter legal battle with It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni. 

Sources familiar with the fallout now tell the Daily Mail Lively was livid and so humiliated by being left off the Super Bowl guest list she allegedly demanded – through her legal team – that Swift make a social media post about how much she regretted that Blake couldn’t join her to cheer on her boyfriend Travis.  

The proposed message, insiders tell the Daily Mail, was intended to address Lively’s unexplained absence and give the impression there was no rift between the pair, and would read along the lines of: ‘So sad, my bestie couldn’t come to the Super Bowl.’

And if Swift refused, went the thinly veiled threat, Lively possessed ‘ten years’ worth’ of private text messages and conversations chronicling her high-profile failed romances and other personal moments she would release to the public.

Taylor Swift returned to support her now husband at the Super Bowl the following year, where her one-time bestie was noticeably absent 

The new revelation sheds fresh light on the allegations that first surfaced during Lively and Baldoni’s legal dispute last year, when the actor’s attorney Bryan Freedman alleged in filings to the court that Lively’s lawyers had tried to pressure Swift into publicly siding with the actress.  

In a May 14 letter to Judge Lewis J. Liman Freeman asserted that a ‘source who is highly likely to have reliable information’ told him that Lively’s lawyers allegedly made ‘extortionate threats’ to the law firm representing Swift, demanding the singer ‘release a statement of support’ for Lively.

It further alleged that Lively had intimated that, if ‘Swift refused to do so, private text messages of a personal nature in Ms Lively’s possession would be released’.

Lively’s lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, vehemently denied the allegations saying: ‘This is categorically false. We unequivocally deny all of these so-called allegations, which are cowardly sourced to supposed anonymous sources, and completely untethered from reality.’

But Freedman then doubled down on the allegations by filing to the court a signed affidavit under the penalty of perjury to shed more light on his unnamed source and more details about the allegations.

The bombshell allegations were included in a publicly filed affidavit by Freedman that was later withdrawn after the judge ruled it was ‘improper’ and ‘irrelevant to any issue before this Court.’

The superstar singer was seen accompanied by rapper Ice Spice, Alana and Este Haim, and Ashley Avignone, sparking speculation that she and Lively were on the outs 

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Swift and Lively had been close friends since 2015

According to insiders, Lively’s alleged Super Bowl ultimatum became the final straw, ending their decade-long relationship.

‘It was the ultimate blow to their friendship,’ the source told the Daily Mail. 

‘The threat to expose Taylor’s most intimate confidences unless she posted something to explain why Blake was missing at the Super Bowl was outrageous.

‘There was no going back from that.’

A source close to Lively told the Daily Mail: ‘Blake has never threatened to leak Taylor’s personal or private text messages.’ 

A representative for Swift declined to comment. 

Although Swift had repeatedly attempted to distance herself from the drama with Baldoni, she inevitably found herself subpoenaed for communications relating to the case by his lawyers. 

As the lawsuit escalated, the Daily Mail can now reveal, Lively also asked Swift to delete the private messages exchanged between them, as noted in Freeman’s affidavit.

Sources say Lively was furious that she was not invited to Swift’s VIP suite for the 2025 Super Bowl 

Once BFFs, Lively’s absence from the wedding illustrated the painful toll her legal battle with Justin Baldoni took on her friendship with Swift;  Lively and Swift seen in 2023 

Lively wanted Swift to release a statement expressing her support for the actress in her legal battle with Baldoni, filings revealed 

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According to the insider, Lively’s concern was that the texts would ‘prove’ there was ‘never any mention of any sexual improprieties’ by Baldoni, after she claimed to be a victim of sexual harassment. 

‘There was only her bitching about how much she hated Justin and wanting Taylor to come to her apartment to scare this dickhead director,’ the source told the Daily Mail. 

Ultimately the Daily Mail revealed that person who provided the information about the alleged threats – first identified as ‘a person very closely linked to Taylor Swift’ – was none other than the pop star’s 74-year-old father Scott Swift after becoming concerned his daughter was being pulled into the ugly legal war.

Scott seemingly didn’t take this alleged apparent attempt to extort his 35-year-old daughter lightly, and decided to take matters into his own hands by cooperating with Baldoni and Freedman in order to protect Swift from any further legal involvement. 

Taylor’s dad, who has long managed many of her business affairs, ‘voluntarily gave up this information as part of a deal that would include [Baldoni’s team] withdrawing their subpoena for Taylor,’ sources said at the time. 

Freedman argued in court documents that their subpoena request aimed to obtain information ‘relating to witness tampering and evidence spoliation’ – specifically that Lively had attempted to ‘coerce’ Swift into publicly siding with her in her lawsuit against Baldoni. 

Scott Swift ‘voluntarily gave up this information as part of a deal that would include Wayfarer withdrawing their subpoena for Taylor,’ the source explained

Swift’s team then responded to Gossip Girl star Lively’s ‘inappropriate and apparently extortionate threats in at least one written communication’ sent to Gottlieb, according to the document.

‘It is those communications that [Baldoni’s team] seeks to obtain by way of subpoena, as they would evidence an attempt to intimidate and coerce a percipient witness in this litigation,’ the letter stated.

The actress’s lawyers later filed a motion asking the court to strike the accusations from its docket as ‘baseless, unnecessary, improper and abusive.’ The motion to dismiss the letter was granted. 

Months later, in October, a judge dismissed Baldoni’s case, and in May of this year, after a judge dismissed most of Lively’s claims, she finally agreed to settle the case with Baldoni but later sued him for $8 million in legal fees. He is fighting that claim.

And any lingering hopes that the former besties would one day reconcile were dashed earlier this month when Swift married NFL star boyfriend Travis Kelce in a lavish July 3 ceremony at Madison Square Garden. 

The bride and groom welcomed a star-studded guest list to the celebrations, which were officiated by Adam Sandler and featured performances from Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney, and in a surprise for guests, the bride herself. 

Swift and Kelce wed in a blockbuster wedding that did not include Lively or her husband Ryan Reynolds; Swift and Kelce seen in 2026

Conspicuously absent, however, were Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, who for years had been among the couple’s closest celebrity friends and were once considered fixtures in Swift’s inner circle. 

Earlier this month, a source familiar with the situation told the Daily Mail Lively was devastated she was not invited. 

Lively is ‘sad and a little bit p***ed. No, a lot p***ed,’ said the insider. ‘That friendship was over before but if there was hope, it’s gone. They’ll never be friends again.’ 

Rather than celebrating with Swift and hundreds of A-list guests in Manhattan, Lively spent the weekend hundreds of miles away in Lake Placid, New York where she and Reynolds were photographed supporting their six-year-old daughter Betty as she competed in a horse show. 

Pregnant Leigh-Anne Pinnock bedazzled her bare baby bump as she took to the stage at Pride on the Park in Brighton on Saturday. 

The former Little Mix singer, 34, turned heads as she showed off her growing bump in a halterneck yellow bra top as she performed for the crowd. 

Styling her dark locks loose, Leigh-Anne donned a pair of oversized floral trousers which she teamed with a cow print belt. 

The My Love songstress kept comfortable in a pair of taupe boots as she broke out into an energetic dance routine. 

The singer, who shares twin daughters with her husband Andre Gray, announced that they are expecting a third child together last month. 

The gig comes after Leigh-Anne revealed she would be sharing more of her pregnancy by launching a Patreon.

The former Little Mix singer, 34, turned heads as she showed off her growing bump in a halterneck yellow bra top as she performed for the crowd

Patreon is a membership platform that lets fans support content creators through a regular monthly subscription.

Taking to her Instagram, the former Little Mix star announced the exciting news.

Sharing a series of clips of her documenting her blossoming bump, Leigh-Anne then sat down in front of the camera to chat with her followers.

She said: ‘Welcome to my Patreon. I am so excited to start this. 

‘I’m expecting my third child. I thought it would be really amazing to bring you on that journey with me; there’s so much that goes unsaid with pregnancy.

‘I’m super excited to share this journey with you.’

Alongside the post, the hitmaker penned: ‘So many of you were asking to see more of my pregnancy journey and now you can!

‘I’m excited to announce I’ve started a Patreon to share more of my pregnancy, bump updates, everyday life and all of the things in between as i prepare to be a mum of three. 

‘This is going to be a complete safe space to be open and honest, share advice and give you a little more insight into life right now.

‘For more information check out the link in my bio and stories x.’

Patreon is a membership platform that lets fans support content creators through a regular monthly subscription.

Styling her dark locks loose, Leigh-Anne donned a pair of oversized floral trousers which she teamed with a cow print belt

The My Love songstress kept comfortable in a pair of taupe boots as she broke out into an energetic dance routine

The star was all smiles as she performed for the crowd

The singer, who shares twin daughters with her husband Andre Gray, announced that they are expecting a third child together last month

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The pregnant star played a number of her hits at Preston Park in Brighton 

Leigh-Anne appeared in her element as she danced around the stage 

Leigh-Anne announced her pregnancy in a sweet social media video whilst recording music in her studio.

Leigh-Anne joyfully wrote: ‘As one chapter ends, another begins.’

The singer and her footballer husband welcomed their twin daughters, four, in August 2021.

After displaying her blossoming baby bump, Leigh-Anne’s former bandmates Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards shared their excitement in the comments.

‘Love you and your beautiful family,’ Jade wrote while Perrie commented heart eye emojis.

Leigh-Anne tied the knot with Andre in June 2023 after welcoming their twins together.

Leigh-Anne previously revealed she had been betrayed by Andre.

Speaking to Paloma Faith on her Mad, Sad and Bad podcast, Leigh-Anne said: ‘I went through a bit of a weird time with my husband actually and I think that sort of not being totally honest and losing trust and that kind of betrayal.

‘I think like heartbreak is wild, like it’s awful and especially someone that you’re so madly in love with and that they can hurt you.’

The singer explained how footballer Andre realised he was being ‘selfish’ after he moved abroad to Greece to play for Aris Thessaloniki.

She continued: ‘Well, I think that person has to want to change and he did. And I think you can go through things in a relationship but if they aren’t willing to change for you, forget it.

‘They have to do the work and they have to turn it around because again it’s not you, it’s not on you.

The singer is expecting her third child with husband Andre Gray (pictured at Wimbledon)

‘He went to therapy and I think for us what really helped for us, he started playing abroad and he had more time to himself to kind of look and realise that everything that he was doing was not how you make a relationship work, it’s not. It’s selfish.’

She also said the footballer ‘went out of his way’ to change for her, which led to her learning the ‘power of forgiveness’.

When she was asked what she has learnt about heartbreak, Leigh-Anne admitted she was still with the person who broke her heart.

She said: ‘Some people might say, oh well why are you still with them? Or why are you still giving them another chance? I guess that can be seen as a weakness and not putting yourself first but I think only you know what is truly right for you.’

Leigh-Anne went on to say the couple got through the ‘struggles’ and now they are in a ‘really beautiful place’.

She continued: ‘If that person can really show that they want to change, you cannot change somebody but if they go out of their way to change themselves I really do think that kind of tells you everything you need to know.

‘For me personally I had to go through these struggles and things in our relationship to get to the point where we are now, which is a really beautiful place.’

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government said nationwide deforestation increased slightly in 2025 but that it had still surpassed its four-year target to reduce forest loss under President Gustavo Petro, with pressure on the Amazon remaining largely unchanged in the administration’s final year.

The Environment Ministry and IDEAM, the country’s meteorological agency, said late Friday that Colombia lost 119,483 hectares (295,000 acres) of forest in 2025 — about the size of Los Angeles. That was a 5% increase from the previous year.

Officials emphasized that despite the increase, forest loss remained 31% below 2021 levels, surpassing the government’s goal of reducing annual deforestation by at least 20% from that baseline.

While Colombia has kept deforestation well below 2021 levels, the latest figures underscore how difficult it has been to sustain the dramatic reductions achieved in 2023. Illegal land grabbing, cattle ranching and expanding infrastructure continue to put heavy pressure on the Amazon, even as authorities say they are increasingly targeting the criminal networks that profit from clearing the rainforest.

Petro, who leaves office next week, made protecting the Amazon a cornerstone of his environmental agenda. His administration also passed a landmark cattle traceability law aimed at preventing beef linked to illegal deforestation from entering supply chains.

The figures provide a benchmark for the incoming government of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, who has pledged to expand oil and mining development while reviewing several of Petro’s environmental policies.

The 2025 statistics were released after weeks of criticism from incoming Environment Minister Fabio Arjona, who accused the outgoing government in a post on X of delaying publication, saying it had withheld the figures because it knew “the scenario is tragic.”

The figures paint a more nuanced picture than the government’s announcement suggests. After Colombia reached a record low in deforestation in 2023, forest loss rose 43% in 2024, reversing much of those gains. While the increase slowed markedly this year, deforestation remains well above the historic low recorded two years ago.

More than 65% of Colombia’s forest loss again occurred in the Amazon, where 77,805 hectares (192,000 acres) were cleared in 2025, virtually unchanged from the 77,124 hectares reported in 2024.

The government’s monitoring system identified 10 active deforestation hot spots concentrated in the northwestern Amazon.

The municipalities with the highest levels of deforestation were Cartagena del Chaira in Caqueta province, followed by Mapiripan in Meta, San Vicente del Caguan in Caqueta and Calamar in Guaviare — all part of Colombia’s long-standing “arc of deforestation,” where illegal land grabbing, cattle ranching and forest clearing intensified after the 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the country’s largest guerrilla group, left a power vacuum in remote rainforest regions.

Environment Minister Irene Vélez attributed the results to greater cooperation with rural communities, expanded conservation incentives and a shift away from policies that criminalized small-scale farmers. She also highlighted a major investigation in Mapiripan that led to the arrest of 17 people allegedly linked to a criminal network involved in illegal land grabbing, deforestation and extensive cattle ranching.

The government said deforestation inside Colombia’s national parks fell nearly 19% from the previous year to 9,388 hectares (23,200 acres). Officials credited programs that pay communities to conserve forests, large-scale restoration efforts and the country’s first forestry concession, which grants rural communities long-term rights to sustainably manage public forest land.

Officials reiterated that the principal drivers of deforestation are illegal land grabbing, the expansion of extensive cattle ranching and unplanned road construction, rather than coca cultivation, the raw ingredient used to produce cocaine, which has long dominated Colombia’s anti-drug efforts.

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Manchester United striker Ethan Wheatley had two loan spells in League One last season and now the young star is reportedly attracting Premier League interest

Everton are reportedly preparing a transfer approach for Manchester United striker Ethan Wheatley. However, it is understood that nothing is advanced at this stage.

The 20-year-old ended last season on loan at League One side Bradford City after spending the first half of the campaign with Northampton Town. The Red Devils youngster made 12 appearances for the Bantams in 2025/26 as he sought more senior first-team football.

However, he failed to score for the West Yorkshire club and did not feature in either of their League One play-off semi-final fixtures with Bolton Wanderers. It came after Wheatley became United’s 250th academy graduate to feature for the first team, making his debut in a 4-2 win over Sheffield United in April 2024.

After impressing in the academy, he was one of several young stars who joined first-team training back in October 2024 as Erik ten Hag prepared his side for their upcoming Europa League clash against Fenerbahce.

And Premier League side Everton are now reportedly interested in a deal. Journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that the Toffees are preparing a formal proposal and are expected to make an official approach to United shortly.

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Our sister paper, the Liverpool Echo, understands that Everton are interested in Wheatley, but a potential deal is still some way off. It is also understood that the move is initially directed towards the club’s academy.

The young star has also been linked with German Bundesliga side Schalke 04 and Dutch club SC Cambuur, but is still on United’s books as it stands.

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Wheatley is under contract at Old Trafford until 2028, therefore interested parties would have to fork out a fee to land him on a permanent basis.

Following his recall from Northampton in January last season, manager Kevin Nolan said Wheatley had made lots of progress during his spell at the club and shared his disappointment at the forward’s departure.

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

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He said: “We are disappointed Ethan has been recalled but we are proud of the work we have done with him and believe he leaves us a far better player than he arrived.

“Because of his injury picked up at Huddersfield in December, we were planning to be without him for a period anyway, but we thank Manchester United for loaning Ethan to us and wish him well for his future career.

“I know he enjoyed himself here, I know his family were appreciative of how we looked after him, and I know Manchester United were pleased with how the loan went.”