Thanks to acclaimed dramas like Cucumber, Years And Years and It’s A Sin, Bafta-winning screenwriter Russell T Davies has been responsible for some of the most heartbreaking scenes in recent TV history.
But even compared to the most jaw-dropping and breath-taking moments of his past works, his latest offering, Tip Toe, stands apart as his most unflinching work to date.
Taking an up-close look at modern life, the hard-hitting drama introduces us to two neighbours – played by Alan Cumming and David Morrissey – who have tolerated living next door to one another for more than a decade.
However, in an ever-divided society and a culture that increasingly pits people against one another, the two men find themselves suddenly at war over their deeply-held beliefs, with ugly consequences as their feud drags them both over a point of no return.
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Speaking to HuffPost UK ahead of the show’s release, Russell told us that there were “various incidents” both in his own life, and in those of “every friend I’ve got”, that led to the inception of Tip Toe.
“Things happened both at work and at home – in ways that I’m not going to go into because it’ll only encourage them to happen again, genuinely – that made me think ‘that’s enough’,” he explains.
“If this anger, this violence and these lies are getting close to my life – I’m in a very privileged, lucky and well off position, so for those who are not so well off, then this must be really bad. These times must be getting worse and worse and worse.”
Bafta winner Russell T Davies’ new series may be his most hard-hitting to date
Fabio De Paola/Shutterstock
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While his friends in the queer community are “feeling more and more pressure, and more and more attacks upon them” in the current climate, Russell notes that these fears are also being felt by other marginalised people.
“I have a friend who is a wheelchair user, and someone turned up at her door, rang the doorbell, and when she opened the door, there was a man saying, ‘you’re lying, you can walk, you’re claiming this on benefits’. To her face!” he recalls.
“And the fear of physical proximity was so terrifying. The anger that I always thought was online is now visibly stepping into the modern world.”
He says these feelings of fear, anxiety and division only continued to “rise up and rise up”, until he “literally felt driven to write” the script that eventually became Tip Toe.
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“I had to,” he explains. “There was no way I was not going to write it. If they’d then refused to make it, I still would have felt happy [to have written it], because I would have got it out of my system.”
Tip Toe touches on timeless themes like family relationships, sexuality, gender expression and tolerance, but also hones in closely on more thorny topics relevant to today’s world, from misinformation and online radicalisation to the resurgence of far-right politics, the “manosphere”, transphobia and the dangers and consequences of unregulated social media.
Episode one actually starts at the end of the story, in the aftermath of an act of unspeakable violence and hatred, before rewinding to just days earlier, leaving viewers pondering how the hell things could reach that point (and, as Russell puts it, “how the hell is society reaching this point? Which we are!”).
Unlike some of his other most popular works, for Tip Toe’s writer, the show isn’t so much a cautionary tale as a reflection of Britain in 2026 as he sees it.
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Tip Toe – starring Alan Cumming and David Morrissey – makes for tough viewing in its darker moments
“I think it’s here,” he insists. “If this was a drama about a Jew living next door to someone [targeting them because of their religion], not one person would be doubting the credibility of the story. In fact, I’d be told that I was out of date, because it’s literally already happening out there, in front of us.”
As a result, both he and Channel 4 – with whom he’s been collaborating since the 1990s – both felt it was “urgent and needed and necessary” to get Tip Toe on the air as quickly as possible.
“I love that,” he enthuses. “That’s a clarion call for me.”
Throughout his TV career, beginning with Queer As Folk through to the aforementioned Years And Years and even Doctor Who, Russell has been commenting on all aspects of society (“I’ve done an awful lot to try and stop these terrible things happening – and it just gets worse,” he observes) for a quarter-century.
Regrettably, he now believes things are in a more dire state than ever.
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“Queer As Folk went out in 1999 when the age of consent was 18, section 28 was in place, there was no gay marriage, there was no gay adoption,” he points out. “All those things have come in within those 26 years. Those are extraordinary leaps. But those are also the very things now that are being weaponised against us.”
“All this time I thought visibility was the answer, or the cure,” he laments. “To the extent that I dragged my gayness into every interview that I’ve ever done. You could literally be asking about the weather and I’ll say, ‘yes, I’m gay… and it’s sunny’ – because I genuinely believe in [the importance of] visibility.
“[I think about] someone sitting at home, trapped in a closet. or trapped in a lonely house, or trapped in a lonely town, where they’ve never heard anyone say that before – and I will be that person to say it. And I still believe in that!”
“But now, I also have to reckon with, ‘what happens then?’,” he continues. “I never thought ahead! It’s as if I were imagining some sort of a future nirvana, which no society ever has. We’re always at war with something. And here we are at war with ourselves.
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“So, yes, you can point to things that are demonstrably better. Yet now, they’re being weaponised to make it worse.”
Russell T Davies believes that progress made in the last 20 years for the LGBTQ+ community is now being “weaponised”
“What happens when we’ve got visibility, when we’ve got equality, when we’ve got representation?” he adds. “What happens when they see us and they still don’t like us?”
These are the same questions Alan Cumming’s Tip Toe character, Leo, is found asking himself in the drama’s first episode following when reflecting on fresh attacks on the queer community.
As the owner Leo is the owner of a popular venue in Manchester’s iconic Canal Street, Leo who has fought for LGBTQ+ equality over the decades. As he reflects on progress made for queer people, a friend reminds him that as a community figurehead, and the employer of trans bar staff, he’s still on the frontline of the culture war whether he likes it or not. As Russell quotes these character’s concerns verbatim, it’s not difficult to see similarities between Leo and Russell himself in these moments.
“Oh! The weaponisation against me online began the moment I put a trans character into Doctor Who,” he agrees.
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After helming the hugely successful reboot of Doctor Who in the mid-2000s, he returned to the franchise in the early 2020s, and remains its showrunner.
During his tenure, he’s been repeatedly forced to defend his vision for the show against far-right critics who have argued that it’s “too woke”.
The backlash against him personally, he says, “began then, on that date” when it was first announced he’d be introducing a transgender character into the long-running series.
“And it has never stopped,” he says, before quickly clarifying: “With lunatics. And idiots. I mean, there is no measure of their lack of intelligence. But that is now crossing over into the real world. That’s the scary thing.
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“Lunatic action is being taken. Violent thoughts are being expressed and then violent action is being taken.”
This harsh introduction to the sinister side of social media included things being “aimed at me professionally, and in my own house, that really seriously make me fear for what the situation might be in the future”.
“I had always imagined that a death threat was not deathly and not threatening,” he claims. “And now, you realise they are becoming deathly, and they are becoming threatening.
“And they’re being aimed in all directions – there are people whose views I profoundly disagree with who are also receiving death threats. It’s become part of normal language. And you have to wonder what the hell is happening to us and where are we going, with no end to this in sight.”
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Russell T Davies poses similar questions to Alan Cumming’s Tip Toe character Leo in light of recent attacks on LGBTQ+ people
The root of it all, Russell says, began “right there”, gesturing to his phone “the moment we all went online”.
“We all love it so much that we don’t question it,” he observes. “It’s a brand new form of communication in the history of the human race. This has never happened before.
“They say when the printing press was invented there were then 200 years of war. And the printing press was a lot slower – believe you me, Bibles did not reach those villages as fast as the internet does
“Now, we’re all connected to each other all of the time, and we’re not evolved to communicate like that. It is absolutely wrong in every shape and form.”
“I know for a fact that communicating what you think in the form of writing is very, very difficult,” he says. “Now that we’re all typing, we’re all led on as though it’s easy – and it’s not.
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“People are expressing their thoughts when they’re not always their thoughts. They haven’t worked out how to say things properly, so they say things simply, and they say things brutally. And then, because that’s said so often, they do end up thinking that. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“We’re absolutely trapped in that loop. It’s utterly the wrong way to communicate. And now, we sit here wondering why children’s mental health is so bad. It’s completely fucking obvious.”
Indeed, as tensions continue rising in the world of Tip Toe, preventable situations are exacerbated even more by characters’ online lives, whether they’re using social media as a well-intentioned means to connect or being drawn into the dark underbelly of these platforms.
Online radicalisation is just one of the many themes examined in Russell T Davies’ new series
Addressing the fact where we now live in a world where “hatred” can be “monetised” and “rewarded” rather than “challenged”, Russell says: “If you’re a YouTube channel now, expressing this hate, you can attract adverts, and you get paid. And that makes you angrier, and express it more, and more money comes in.
“This is the revolution that’s happening. This is why everything’s going completely wrong. And we’re letting it happen! I’m describing something we all know is happening, every single day, and then we’ll go and have our tea tonight and do nothing about it.”
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Russell is similarly critical of X, the platform once known as Twitter, which he’s not posted on since 2021, branding it a “hate site”.
He goes on to share that he’s recently run into some “very big problems” in his work at the BBC, having “refused to be part of any press release that went on Twitter”.
“I said, I’m taking my name off anything [that goes on Twitter],” he claims. “There is no way a publicly-funded corporation should be posting on a hate site. And it is a hate site now – it’s run by one man with an aim to increase hatred, and all the safeguards have been taken off, and public bodies still post on it. It should stop immediately.”
“In fact,” he offers. “We should sue those public [bodies]. We pay for the BBC – we pay for Channel 4 as well – and they’re public bodies. They should absolutely stop posting on a site that is not a public forum, but is a hate site.”
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Last year, these questions around online radicalisation were raised with the release of another well-received drama, Netflix’s Adolescence, in which a teenage boy is sucked into the so-called “manosphere” and winds up murdering a young girl at his school.
A key difference between Adolescence and Tip Toe is that, in the latter, it’s the adult characters who find themselves being radicalised by content they’re viewing on social media.
“Go and look at the venom that was directed at Jack Thorne. He became public enemy number one,” Russell says. “Go and look at the tweets despising him, calling him a liar, calling him a fraud… all because it was a white child and not a Black child [depicted in the series].
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“He is absolutely under attack to this day, still. [After Adolescence’s release], the bile and anger festered and [was] weaponised more than ever.”
Alan Cumming and David Morrissey on the set of the new Channel 4 drama Tip Toe
Increasingly divided though the world of Tip Toe may be, Russell was adamant when sitting down to write it that he didn’t want to portray either side of any argument as perfect. Deplorable though some characters’ actions might be, we discover they’re capable of kindness and compassion in the most surprisingly and seemingly unlikely of places.
He claims: “I think I’d be a terrible writer if I didn’t do that. I think that’s why I love writing, is exploring people like that.
“I’ve absolutely no interest in just being nice about people, because I think people are complicated and strange, and that’s why I write.”
As for what’s next, Russell admits he’s not sure how we get ourselves out of the corner we’re now backed into – or if people even want to.
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“I don’t feel particularly optimistic,” he admits. “Great people will always do great things. That’s the story of the human race. But I think we’re now out of control in a way that we won’t even contemplate, because getting rid of your WhatsApp thread for your street, so you know what days the bins go out, is more important than children’s mental health.
“We’ve got every standard wrong, and we’re trapped. And we’re monetised to stay in this position – and you cannot vote against an algorithm and I think actually there’s no hope. That’s what I think. There is no hope.”
Prompted for a solution as to how we reverse things, he jokes: “You tell me! That’s why I wrote it. I put something like this into the world so that somebody can come up with something we can do.”
He does, however, have a warning for anyone standing by complacently as persecution against minorities in all forms continues to increase.
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“That world out there is going to ‘other’ all of us,” he states. “It’s going to find ways to do this to every single one of us.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Tip Toe premieres on Channel 4 on Sunday 31 May.
Belfast-based designer Rebekah Murphy is the youngest person showing at Ireland Fashion Week 2026 and has just finished her first year of Textile design and Fashion at the Belfast School of Art, with her own brand in the works for the summer.
Speaking with RSVP Live, she discusses the struggles of finding affordable studio space, her childhood in Belfast, and the epicentre of Irish fashion.
Growing up in Belfast, it’s clear the area has had an effect on her work: “Living here post everything that has happened here has influenced my work. I feel like people in Belfast have a way of storytelling that is quite nuanced, that they don’t necessarily tell things quite heavily.
“They like to pick up the light parts of it. So when my mum or my dad was telling me stories about growing up, there would be this really heavy day, and they would say, ‘but it’s okay because we went to the pub after’ or something like that. They picked up the fun parts. So I try to do that a lot with my work, do the kind of lighter, more quirky bits of storytelling rather than focusing on the heavy thing that it might actually be about.”
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Rebekah works from her bedroom, as there is a stark amount of studio spaces in the country: “The price of rent in Ireland at the moment is insane to try to get a studio. My best friend and I, she’s a painter. She just graduated. So, we were looking at a studio together, but it’s totally not feasible even with two people.”
The designer was set on becoming a painter with her uni applications all sorted until she met fellow designer Rion Hannora at Dublin’s RDS for a school trip: “This is such a tangible space for design. It was the first time I’ve seen Irish design up close. On the bus journey home to Belfast. I pulled out of three of the uni options I had been accepted for and applied for a foundation year instead because I was like, ‘Right, I like that, but I can’t sew.’
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“I have no knowledge about this. I was daunted by applying just for fashion. I did a foundation year last year, and I loved it. I fell in love with the fashion.
“I got to actually work with Rion on her Dublin fashion show, and it was class.
“She’s insane, and she’s so down to earth, that was one of the things that made me realise people actually talk to you here. This is a real community down here, and I always thought there’s nothing like this happening in Belfast.”
Witnessing Belfast’s fashion scene first-hand, Rebekah says, “it has really, really taken off.”
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“I’ve spoken to one of my mentors, Lucinda Graham, about it, and she was really like, ‘You’re touching on something that’s on the top of everybody’s tongue at the moment,’ that Dublin is this kind of false epicentre of fashion.”
“Being part of Ireland Fashion Week this year, I’ve got to meet so many people from every corner of Ireland. Without Ireland Fashion Week, the opportunity for us to meet would have been nil. So, it’s really great to have this kind of hub where we can all meet, chat, and get to know each other as designers from every part, not just Dublin designers.”
Rebekah has experimented with all sorts of pieces that always tie into some aspect of Irish history, including her Punt Ties.
“So I took inspiration from the punts, going out of currency, and the women being legally guaranteed entry into the pub in 2004. I wasn’t old enough to remember, but my mum and dad would still recall it even with Euros. They always had a punt purse that they kept in the car for whenever they were going down south or anything like that. So that was another weird thing that was in my ear whenever I was designing that.”
She also experimented with making bikinis and briefs, yet not with the typical material, but with an old football, which was a “total nightmare” to craft.
“Growing up, there was never a night you walked into the living room, in the kitchen, and the TV didn’t have football on. It used to do my head, and I was like, ‘Wow, we’re still watching football. You don’t even support these teams.’
“We had a ball in our back garden since we were kids, and we never used to play football or anything like that. I used to think it was so silly. It was obviously quite worn and torn to shreds, and I am a firm believer that my idea of sustainability is that everything you need exists in the world. There is no point in buying crazy fabrics or anything like that to communicate what you’re trying to do.
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“So, I cut up this football, asking, ‘Is anybody going to use this? ‘No.’ ‘Right, okay.’ I took it into my room, and I cut it up, and the leather is really thick. These specific footballs also have a kind of ‘plasticky coating’. I think it’s for rain and similar things. So I cut it up and made a bikini out of it.
“I remember my sister opening the door, and she was like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I replied, ‘It’s a football bikini.’ And she just said, ‘Okay.’ But that was for my collection last year. which was about kind of reminiscence of girlhood, and kind of what I remember through rose-tinted glasses, you always remember that, that’s the funny part of how I felt about it.
“My collection last year was all around the parts of a memory that you thought were really flippant at the time. I quit dance, and that was part of the collection last year, but I only really remember the nice aspects of it. I was really flippant about it at the time and didn’t want anything to do with dance. So last year, I was living in that memory, picking out the bits I remembered that were really positive about dance.”
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Following current attempts to bring back Star Fox from the brink of obscurity, a reader suggests pairing it up with another of Nintendo’s forgotten franchises.
Back in the Wii U era there was a weird rumour going around that there was going to be a crossover between Star Fox and Metroid. I think it was just before the launch of the Wii U, so before they announced Star Fox Zero. It was odd because any rumour about Nintendo stuff is rare and also because it didn’t seem to make much sense.
Metroid is about the most serious franchise Nintendo has got (which isn’t saying much, admittedly) whereas Star Fox is a bunch of cuddly animals having a star war. Back then neither franchise was in a good state and things haven’t really got better for either since.
It was one step forward for Metroid Dread and two steps back with Metroid Prime 4 and, well… we’ll see how the Star Fox 64 remake does. Although everyone already likes that game, so the real question is can Nintendo make a new Star Fox game that is both good and popular?
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The rumour at the moment is that if the remake goes well then Nintendo will greenlight a bigger budget new game. That makes logical sense but it also kind of implies they’ve already got an idea ready to go. I doubt we’ll find out what that is unless they want us to, but my idea is to combine Star Fox with another franchise, but not Metroid.
I’d say that the other most popular Nintendo franchise that doesn’t seem to have much chance of coming back at the moment, and hasn’t had a new game in years, is F-Zero. Hardcore fans will know there is already a connection, because someone called James McCloud (Fox McCloud’s dad) is in F-Zero GX and drives a vehicle that looks a bit like an Arwing.
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As I understand it, he’s a homage and not meant to be the same character (he’s a human with a weird haircut, not a fox) but I don’t think you’d need to change anything to say that Star Fox and F-Zero take place in the same universe. And even if you didn’t the Super Mario Galaxy movie already had Fox go to the Mario universe, so it doesn’t seem like Nintendo has much of a problem with that type of thing.
In terms of what kind of game this crossover would be, I would take another idea that I think is fairly common (or at least I’ve seen it mentioned a couple of times in the Inbox) of expanding Star Fox into an Elite style space trading game.
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I think this is an excellent idea and I think it’d be even better if you had a crossover with F-Zero, because then you’d have stuff to do on ground level, when you land your spaceship. Since I can’t imagine Nintendo wanting everyone to be running around and shooting each other.
Captain Falcon is meant to be a bounty hunter (a Metroid and F-Zero crossover also would’ve made more sense than Star Fox and Metroid) so there’s another gameplay hook, as the Star Fox team seem to be basically mercenaries already.
So you’d have space combat, car racing, and space exploration and trading. It’s not something Nintendo has done before – which you can’t say about most genres – and it’s not something that’s common in general nowadays.
It’s also a good way to solve the problem of what to do with both franchises. Not enough people are interested in playing F-Zero nowadays and anything that’s not just a linear space shooter has never worked for Star Fox. But open things up a bit, make the game more of a sandbox and I think you’ve got your answer.
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By reader Rocky
Star Fox needs to expandits horizons (Nintendo)
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.
Before their performance, the group described Clarkson as their “biggest cheerleader” and added they “couldn’t thank him enough”, while judge KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, said he wanted to add their original song, This Is Home, to his Spotify playlist after they performed it.
Grosmont Station Tea Room, located on the platform at Grosmont Station, has become a popular stop for walkers, railway enthusiasts and families visiting the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
Set within one of the line’s best-known stations, the tea room is described by many visitors as “a step back in time”, with its vintage railway atmosphere and views across the historic platforms.
Grosmont Station Tea Room (Image: TRIPADVISOR)
One visitor wrote on TripAdvisor: “Lovely place to watch the trains go by and get the taste of a bygone age.”
Another said: “A thorough, authentic experience in keeping with the North Yorkshire Moors Railway objectives.”
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The tea room, which holds a 4.3-star rating on TripAdvisor, is particularly popular with walkers making the journey between Goathland and Grosmont, many of whom stop for lunch or tea while watching heritage steam locomotives arrive and depart.
Visitors regularly praise the relaxed atmosphere, outdoor seating and simple traditional menu.
One reviewer described the tea room’s tuna and cucumber sandwiches as “divine,” adding: “We always look forward to our lunch at the tea rooms on Grosmont station.”
Others have highlighted bacon and egg baps, cream teas and homemade cakes after long hikes through the Esk Valley and surrounding moorland.
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Many say the tea room’s charm lies in its authenticity.
Unlike modern chain cafés, visitors describe it as preserving the feel of an old-fashioned railway buffet from the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
One reviewer wrote: “This is not Starbucks, Costa or Greggs.
“It is part of the exhibit of the railway buffet bars of the 40s to 60s.”
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The tea room forms part of the wider visitor experience at Grosmont Station, which serves as a key hub on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and attracts thousands of tourists every year.
Families, railway enthusiasts and photographers frequently gather at the station to watch steam engines, explore the engine sheds and enjoy the atmosphere of one of the country’s best-known heritage railways.
For many visitors, the tea room has become an essential part of the experience.
One tourist wrote: “If it’s dry, we always sit outside on one of the picnic tables and soak up the atmosphere of this beautiful railway station.”
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Another added: “A real feel for times past and long forgotten by many.”
RE: Mr Zimmott’s letter and match day travel. Many supporters do come to matches on foot and bike.
They would have been helped if a crossing had been installed sooner from Anthea Drive to the path to Vangarde.
This was agreed after a site visit with council officers and local Lib Dem councillors nearly 4 years ago.
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In terms of bus travel we had a series of meetings with council officers before the stadium opened and special buses were agreed from around the city – Haxby, Acomb etc. Then Covid stopped bus travel and these buses didn’t happen. Time to get them started.
The success of City and the Knights is brilliant for the clubs, supporters and our city but local people should not have to worry whether emergency vehicles can get through on their street.
We have reported the concerns of residents a number of times since crowds increased from 3,000 to over 6,000.
The solution already applies on part of New Lane where parking is restricted on match days.
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If the will is there this could be replicated on the streets where local people want them by the start of next season.
We want everyone to enjoy the success of City and the Knights without putting local people in danger.
Cllr Keith Orrell
Liberal Democrat councillor for Huntington and New Earswick
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—
Some thoughts on our Labour government…
AS this country deteriorates into oblivion, what hope for the next generation when we gave a Government who instead of working hard to promote employment is happier to see these youngsters sit on the settee all day being paid sufficient benefit payments to avoid seeking work.
Thank goodness we live in a society which embraces “freedom of speech” for were we to live under tight state control the damning report compiled by Alan Millburn concerning our Governments mishandling of the “welfare state” would never have seen the light of day.
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It is little wonder the opinion polls are showing the public’s distaste for socialist policies. Hidden within every one is a desire for them to take ownership of other people’s success achieved through years of hard work to give to those who simply do not wish to contribute to society.
And finally, the previous Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair launches a scathing attack on socialist policies being introduced by Keir Starmer’s government. Is this a prelude to him announcing he is applying to join the Conservative Party?
Peter Rickaby,
Moat Way,
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Brayton,
North Yorkshire
—
Please define ‘bolder’
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FOLLOWING Labour’s disastrous local election results, Luke Charters MP says the answer is for Labour to be “bolder” but he doesn’t specify exactly what this means.
He mentions the Renters Act that is having a detrimental impact on housing availability, the provision of “Oyster” style transport cards that are hardly an essential necessity and Breakfast Clubs. But other than that he explains nothing.
So is this “boldness” yet more taxation and stifling regulation that is already crippling the economy?
Is it more financial burdens on businesses that making employing people so onerous that jobs are being lost every day.
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Is it a continuation of uncontrolled illegal migration that is costing taxpayers a fortune while the character of our towns and cities change beyond recognition and essential services continue to crumble by being overwhelmed?
If the MP for outer York could clarify exactly what he means by more “boldness” from Labour it would help us all enormously at the ballot box.
Matthew Laverack,
Lord Mayors Walk,
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York
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As Cuba heads into another month of blackouts due to the near-total fuel blockade imposed by the US, many say their lives now revolve around these power outages.
For Ana Rosa Romero, a 70-year-old widow living in a high-rise building, the constant power cuts have transformed her daily life.
BBC’s Will Grant spoke to her about the impact of the blackouts.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Winning the Champions League was so nice, Paris Saint-Germain had to do it twice.
PSG became back-to-back European champion by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties in a dramatic final in Budapest that ended 1-1 after extra time on Saturday.
“It’s incredible,” captain Marquinhos said. “From the very first day of this season, the coach said it’s hard to win, and winning twice is even more difficult. So we all had to get back to work. That was the mentality.”
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes fired the last of his team’s penalties over the bar to hand PSG the shootout win.
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The French giant is only the second team to retain the trophy in the modern era after all-time king of Europe Real Madrid.
Luis Enrique became a three-time winner as a coach and has moulded a team that is simply too good even for the best the continent has to offer. That includes an Arsenal team that won the Premier League last week and topped the first stage of the Champions League with a perfect winning record, finishing 10 points and 10 places ahead of PSG.
That mattered little in Puskas Arena as PSG reaffirmed its status as the dominant force in European soccer.
“It’s even more special because we knew before the match how difficult it would be,” Luis Enrique said. “I think it’s deserved over the course of the whole season, even if the final was very closely contested.”
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After demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in last year’s final, PSG endured a tougher foe as Arsenal sat deep and relied on the best defense in the competition.
PSG dominated possession but created little after going behind to a Kai Havertz goal in the sixth minute. It took an Ousmane Dembélé penalty in the 65th to level the score and take the final to extra time for the first time in 10 years.
PSG coach in elite company
By going back to back, Luis Enrique achieved what his good friend Pep Guardiola could not after winning Champions Leagues at Barcelona and Manchester City. Luis Enrique joined Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Guardiola in an elite group of coaches with at least three European Cups.
The next target will be to emulate Madrid’s three in a row under Zidane from 2016-18. And with a starting lineup in Budapest with an average age of less than 24, Luis Enrique has built a team that has the potential to dominate for years.
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“It’s crazy, it’s crazy. We’re going to enjoy it first, and after we’re going to work and work again because we want more. We are really hungry. We are a young team, and we know we are really ambitious. So next season we have to go again,” Désiré Doué told broadcaster TNT Sports.
Having waited 22 years to get its hands back on the Premier League trophy, Arsenal’s wait in Europe goes on.
This was its 226th game in the European Cup or Champions League without lifting the trophy. No other team has played so many without being champion.
“First of all you have to go through that pain, digest it and then turn it into fuel and improve and reach a different level because it will demand a different level with the quality that is around Europe,” manager Mikel Arteta said.
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“I want to congratulate PSG because they are, in my opinion, the best team in the world. What they are able to do with the ball, individual actions, I haven’t seen it (before).”
Arsenal comfortable defending
There were times when it looked as though Arsenal’s Champions League losing streak would be snapped. Especially when PSG looked so short of ideas after going behind to Havertz’s breakaway early goal.
By scoring so early the tone was set and Arsenal was comfortable sitting back and soaking up pressure. PSG struggled to find openings and looked edgy in possession.
On an evening that kicked off with a pre-match show by rock band The Killers that sounded off in the acoustics of the stadium, PSG also fell a little flat and registered just one shot on target in the first half.
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It was given a way back into the final when Cristhian Mosquera brought down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the box and referee Daniel Siebert pointed to the spot.
Ballon d’Or holder Dembélé made no mistake, firing low to the left as Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya dived the wrong way.
Red flares were lit by PSG fans, likely as much in relief as celebration.
There were rare chances for PSG to win in regulation. Kvaratskhelia hit the post in the 77th after a rapid breakaway and substitute Bradley Barcola wasted another opportunity to seal it at the death when firing wide.
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Arsenal was limited to a 24.7% possession average — the lowest in a final since records began in 2004, according to stats provider Opta. But Arteta’s dogged and determined team pushed PSG all the way, even in the shootout.
Eberechi Eze missed an earlier spot kick for Arsenal but Raya saved from Nuno Mendes to keep the score level.
Lucas Beraldo converted the last of PSG’s spot kicks, meaning Gabriel had to convert to take it to sudden death. But he blasted high over the bar into a section of PSG fans, who erupted in celebrations along with their new two-time champion team.
It was a familiar sight as Marquinhos got his hands on the trophy for a second time and raised it aloft in the center of the field as gold confetti and fireworks exploded around the team.
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French President Emmanuel Macron posted his congratulations on X: “A new star is shining over Paris!” and told PSG players they were “making all of Europe dream. France is proud.”
Clackmannanshire Council have now said residents will need to wait at least another five days to find out if their homes will be safe to return to.
Council leader Ellen Forson said it would not be fair to speculate ahead of the findings of initial investigations by the Mining Remediation Authority, which are expected next week.
Speaking to BBC Scotland, she added that her “heart went out” to residents and that she appreciated the situation had been “absolutely horrendous”.
Cllr Forson said: “It is very challenging. We are a small local authority area and there are limited resources, particularly in housing.
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“However, we have been trying to provide support and working with partners to find alternative accommodation, mostly around the Forth Valley area, as well as providing extra support through food, supplies, childcare and care for pets.
Council staff and local community groups have rallied round to support the people affected as best they can and Cllr Forson praised them for working “really, really hard”.
She added: “We’ve had council officers cancel leave and miss family occasions to provide support on the ground, and that is very much appreciated.”
Some neighbouring residents have also been asked to leave their homes temporarily as utilities have been cut off until the cause of the ground movement can be investigated.
However, some, including Ross MacPhee, have decided to return to their homes regardless of the warnings. He said a lack of information about the situation meant he was “frustrated”.
He said: “They’re asking us to uproot our lives, move elsewhere, and they’re not telling us any information at all,” he said.
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“The lack of information is what’s most annoying for us, I think.
“I feel very confused, very frustrated – quite sad as well. We’ve only been in our house for about six months and, more than anything, I think it’s very much soured my opinion of the council in this area.”
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Other residents have told how they were hurried out of their homes as emergency services moved in to investigate the ground movement. Many have had to find temporary accommodation elsewhere after staying at Devonvale Hall where emergency provision was put on in the immediate aftermath.
A spokesperson for Clackmannanshire Council said it would “continue to keep residents updated as further information becomes available”.
The said: “The evacuation is being carried out in a controlled manner and residents are being supported by council officers and partner agencies throughout the process.
“The priority of all local resilience partners continues to be the safety and welfare of everyone involved, and our officers remain in the local area to provide guidance and support to residents during what we appreciate is a worrying and uncertain time.”
Justice Secretary Neil Gray has held a meeting with Clackmannanshire Council officials and the local MSP to “discuss what support the Scottish government could provide to those affected through what is a deeply distressing time”.
He said: “Investigations are being carried out by the Mine Remediation Authority to establish the source of the subsidence and we await its findings.
“The Scottish government is actively engaging with the local authority and relevant partners.”
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Data from the Mine Remediation Authority shows that an entrance to one of the former mines in the area was located on what is now Dunmoss View.
The authority said it work was continuing “at pace” to establish the cause of this incident.
A spokesperson said: “Our priority remains the safety of residents, our people and partners, and we will provide further updates as more information becomes available.”
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The Gunners had led 1-0 after just six minutes of normal time at the Puskas Arena thanks to Kai Havertz’s goal, holding out and defending admirably amid sustained pressure until five minutes after the hour mark, when Ousmane Dembele equalised from the penalty spot after Cristhian Mosquera had fouled Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
If you’re as obsessed with The Boroughs as we are, you’ll also be desperate to know if Netflix is giving it a second season.
The supernatural drama follows a group of pensioners who investigate mysterious goings on at their upmarket retirement complex.
Upon its release earlier this month, the show was met with rave reviews from critics and audiences, helped in no small part by the performances from its all-star cast, which includes the likes of Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard and Clarke Peters.
Season one ended on an intriguing cliffhanger that saw Alfred’s character, Sam, glitching in the mirror, leaving fans on the edge of their seats for a second series.
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Because of this, speculation is rife about when we’ll get a second season and what it will be about. Thankfully, showrunners Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews have an update…
Could there be a season 2 of The Boroughs on Netflix?
Good news – The Boroughs’ creators have revealed they have a three-season arc plan in mind for our unlikely group of heroes.
“We have ideas for season two [and] know where [it] goes, and it builds directly off that moment, and nothing about that shot was done idly,” showrunner Jeffrey Addiss teased to IGN.
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The Boroughs’ creators Will Matthews and Jeffrey Addiss
“It was a tip of the cap to where we want to go, which means we can’t give away what it means, because that’s going to be the fun, knock on wood, should we get a second season,” the writer added.
The bad news? For the time being, Netflix has yet to announce if The Boroughs will be renewed, but we’ll keep you posted as soon as there are updates.
While we don’t know for certain that The Boroughs will get a second season, Netflix’s decision is often based on viewing figures. Since the show landed in the top spot on Netflix within a week of its release and has remained in the top 10 ever since, it’s a positive sign that the series could return in the future.
What could a potential season 2 of The Boroughs be about?
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When asked if their three-season plan for The Boroughs would follow Mother, the creature living under the retirement complex, and her children, the showrunners were understandably cagey.
“You always want something new,” Jeffrey explained. “We really want, across three seasons, for the audience to feel like we’ve answered all the questions.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re not introducing some crazy stuff in season two. We don’t think of it as a monster-of-the-season show. We do think of this as one large, complex story where crazy stuff continues to happen that’s surprising, but it is one story to us.”
The Boroughs has been a huge hit for Netflix since its release earlier this month
The writing duo did get some help putting together that cliffhanger ending from people who know how to make gripping TV.
When writing the finale, they consulted with The Duffer Brothers – who are executive producers on The Boroughs, and previously helmed Stranger Things – about balancing a perfect ending that satisfies audiences but also “cracks the door” for an “interesting” second season.
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“They very clearly articulated, ‘You just never know’. Tell a complete story and then leave room to tell more story,” Will Matthews added.
“Our first draft has had a little bit more – not quite an ending, maybe kind of a beginning. It was a little bit in the middle. And they were like, ‘Do this… And then that’.”
While the showrunners are remaining tight-lipped about the future of Sam, Renee, Judy and co., they did give fans a tiny hint at the theme of a second series could be.
“What would you do with a second chance?” Jeffrey teased.
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The Boroughs’ first season is currently streaming on Netflix.
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