Andy Burnham has been warned by Labour‘s Left that they could revive their rebellion against ‘punitive’ benefits cuts.

Since taking office, the Prime Minister has said Britain ‘must get really serious’ about curbing welfare spending.

But he has been told by Labour MPs not to ‘ignore the lessons of the last Parliament’ when his predecessor, Keir Starmer, faced a mass revolt over proposed changes.

The former PM was forced into a humiliating climbdown last summer on his plans to restrict access to disability benefits.

Sir Keir wanted to tighten rules for claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in an effort to save billions of pounds from Britain’s ballooning welfare bill.

A huge rebellion from his own MPs derailed his plans, with Sir Keir instead ordering disability minister Stephen Timms to undertake a major review of PIP.

Ahead of Sir Stephen publishing his final review in the autumn, Mr Burnham has suggested he is ready to make a renewed case for benefits changes to his party.

Kim Johnson, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, told the new PM not to ‘revive the failed politics of welfare cuts instead of asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share’.

Data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed there were four million claimants entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) at the end of April

The Liverpool Riverside MP told Bloomberg she was concerned that Mr Burnham’s appointment of John Healey, the former defence secretary, as his Chancellor ‘signals a return to a “warfare, not welfare” approach’.

‘If the new leadership believes it can revive the failed politics of welfare cuts instead of asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share, it will be repeating not only Keir Starmer’s mistakes but 14 years of Tory austerity,’ she added.

‘If the first instinct of a new leadership is to target disabled people and low-income families rather than challenge the wealth and inequality at the top of society, then nothing has been learned.’ 

Ms Johnson added that it would be ‘absolutely mad to ignore the lessons of the last Parliament’ and forget that Labour MPs ‘made our opposition to welfare cuts crystal clear’.

She warned Mr Burnham would face the ‘same resistance’ if he opted for the same approach.

John McDonnell, another member of the Socialist Campaign Group who was Labour’s shadow chancellor during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the party, said any future welfare reform ‘must be based upon a strategy of providing positive support to people rather than punitive sanction’.

He said it would otherwise not be backed by Labour MPs and the party’s wider membership.

‘I believe Andy Burnham gets that and my hope is that those around him appreciate it too,’ the Hayes and Harlington MP added.

Asked on Tuesday if he is ready to do battle with Labour MPs on welfare reform, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I want to reform the welfare system in a way that puts work and opportunity at its heart.

‘I believe that we owe young people in particular more than an income, we owe them a future too.

‘It’s changing the system to put work and opportunity and a good future at its heart that drives me every day, and is also the best way to control the welfare bill in the longer term.’

The number of people in England and Wales claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the main disability benefit, has now passed four million for the first time. 

The number of claimants has roughly doubled since 2019, with spending on PIP forecast to rise to more than £41billion by the end of the decade.

PIP is intended to help with everyday tasks and extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.

It has been revealed that teenagers claiming PIP for conditions such as anxiety receive £100 a week more than part-time workers on a minimum wage.

In an interview with the BBC at the weekend, Mr Burnham said: ‘I think we’ve got to get really serious as a country at getting the welfare bill down.’

Pressed on how he might attempt to cut the ballooning benefits bill, the PM added: ‘It’s about changing the nature of the support and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented in front of them.’

Mr Burnham on Tuesday vowed to tackle Britain’s youth employment crisis – although he declined to set a deadline for cutting the number of jobless 16 to 24-year-olds.

The PM said he is ‘on a mission’ to halt the rise in the number of young people not in education, employment or training – so-called NEETs.

But he added: ‘When precisely I can get there is a hard thing to say right now.’

He pledged his intent to tackle the NEETs crisis as he unveiled plans to open up new technical education routes to 14-year-olds.

Latest data, published in May, showed the number of young people aged 16-24 neither working nor learning surpassed one million for the first time since 2013, reaching 1.01 million in the three months from January to March.

An interim report by former Labour minister Alan Milburn, also published in May, warned the figure could rise to one in six by 2031 and that Britain risks leaving behind a ‘lost generation’ of young people ill-prepared for work.

The White House has posted a Rick and Morty-inspired video starring Donald Trump and JD Vance, a day after the show’s co-creator acknowledged a debt to the commander-in-chief.

The 36-second clip, captioned “Hop in… best dimension yet,” parodies the cult Adult Swim cartoon’s opening title sequence, with Trump standing in for the cantankerous scientist Rick and Vance for the impressionable sidekick Morty.

The president and his deputy race out of the executive mansion, briefly wave to a rally crowd and then outrun a red-eyed space dragon in their flying saucer.

On the way, they pass hard-nosed border czar Tom Homan arresting a literal illegal alien, the Artemis II rocket and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose face falls off to reveal that he is really a robot.

The bizarre post comes after one of the show’s co-creators, Dan Harmon, admitted that aspects of Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama had provided inspiration for his new spin-off cartoon, President Curtis, giving Rick and Morty’s fictional commander-in-chief his own spotlight.

Interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter about the new project, Harmon said: “The conversations about Obama and Trump were inevitable.

“Curtis has a naïveté that you could overlap with Trump, who is like, ‘I’m an outsider, and I consider this job simple, and I don’t care about the bureaucracy of it.’ On the Obama side, it’s the charmer and the guy who gets organic joy in being liked – that whole rock star aspect of Obama.

“But mostly just more legendary aspects of presidents from the past, all Serpentor’d into a test tube baby that then becomes our version of maybe Martin Sheen in The West Wing, where it’s our fantasy president, warts and all.”

Not everyone was amused by the White House’s clip, however, with former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene responding on X: “People can’t afford gas, groceries, rent, and healthcare and this is the weird embarrassing crap the official White House account is putting out.”

Liberal commentator Harry Sisson similarly said: “wtf… we just want health care and not whatever the hell this is.”

The video appeared as Trump himself engaged in another eccentric posting spree over on Truth Social, in one instance sharing an AI meme of himself traveling through time to save George Washington, seen hanging from Mount Rushmore in tribute to another film, Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959).

In another post, the president depicted a huge concrete border erected between the U.S. and Canadian borders to satirize the latest trade tensions between the two countries.

In a third, he appeared with John F Kennedy standing on the White House Lawn, as though the two men had posed together for an official picture, despite the fact that Trump was just 17 years old when the Kennedy assassination took place.

Other posts provided provocative hints that he intends to run again for a third term in 2028, a subject he also joked about at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night, and rebuked Senate Republicans for lacking “spine,” with one depicting Trump in a white lab coat pointing sternly towards a skeleton.

Grape Tree, which offers a variety of products to encourage ‘healthy eating’, welcomed customers into The Centre at Livingston.

A new health store has opened its doors at a West Lothian shopping centre.

Grape Tree, which offers a variety of products to encourage ‘healthy eating’, welcomed customers into The Centre at Livingston.

The shop sells a range of different wellness products including nuts and seeds, protein powders, supplements as well as a variety of cupboard products such as jams, spreads and grains.

Sharing a montage of photos from inside the store, the team at The Centre gave a “warm welcome” to the chain.

The post reads: “A warm welcome to Grape Tree, now open at The Centre! Explore their wide selection of nuts, dried fruit, seeds, grains, nutrition and SO much more.

“Come discover their large selection! We won’t judge if you stock up.”

Many shoppers are excited by the opening. One person said: “Fantastic, a great shop.”

A second wrote: “Looks amazing! Absolutely fantastic addition.”

A description of the shop reads: “Shop at Grape Tree for a great range of health foods and wellbeing products offering you value, quality and choice in store or online.

“Buy whole foods and superfoods, including our own 100% Organic range. Plus, healthy and nutritious snacks such as nuts, dried fruits, and seeds.

“Our walnuts are a real food source. Browse organic, free from, raw, and vegan product ranges. Our range also extends to personal care and beauty, minerals, vitamins and supplements.”

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Residents of an affluent sailing town are up in arms over plans for a new McDonald’s on their high street – fearing it will spark traffic chaos and make their children ‘obese’.

Locals and planning chiefs in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, have condemned the idea of setting up a branch of the fast food chain in the quiet coastal town in order to protect young people, they said. 

Resident Adam Wilds, who lives opposite the proposed site, said there are four schools within walking distance, with children walking around the residential area daily. 

‘We need to reduce childhood obesity by limiting access to unhealthy food options where children gather,’ he said. 

‘McDonald’s has suggested that they offer healthy foods. Who is going to choose a salad when they can have a burger? How ridiculous.’

The proposed site has been recommended for refusal by the planning committee after it was deemed to have ‘unhealthy food options’ that would contribute to childhood obesity. The final decision will be made this week. 

Currently, there are only two McDonald’s restaurants on the Isle of Wight, in Newport and Ryde.

McDonald’s said they want to ‘transform this vacant site into a modern employment-generating facility that serves local residents’, arguing it would create more than 120 jobs for the community. 

Resident Adam Wilds criticised the campaign, saying the company was ‘coercing people’ for support

The proposal includes a fast-food restaurant with a drive-through and 30 parking spaces, which will be open Monday to Sunday, 6am to midnight.

McDonald’s has over 1,400 restaurants across the UK, but it has previously come under fire from the British Medical Journal for using a ‘playbook’ of questionable arguments to win planning appeals.

According to the BMJ, it has lodged 14 such appeals with the Planning Inspectorate since 2020, winning 11 of them and losing only one.

The plans in Cowes have faced major opposition, with 186 objections and a number of petitions put forward, with one gaining 361 signatures and another gaining 1,788 digital signatures.

Mr Wilds cited research by Cancerwatch and the Obesity Health Alliance saying that ‘fast food high in calories, fat, and salt’ is linked to ‘obesity, a major risk factor for cancer and other serious illnesses’.

Isle of Wight Council Public Health singled out the area as having a particularly bad obesity problem too.

It said: ‘The evidence demonstrates the high levels of obesity on the Isle of Wight, already higher (worse) than the national average.

‘The development would add a hot food takeaway which is more likely to offer less healthy food options.’

On top of the issues raised around health, Mr Wilds had several other complaints about how McDonald’s had been campaigning to get permission. 

He continued: ‘McDonald’s has made some wild claims (cleaning up litter, car shares, fat traps, sustainable drainage, no noise, no traffic) through this application process and have resorted to extremely underhanded tricks in an attempt to gain public support.

‘One of these tactics is coercing people with no real knowledge of the impact of the development to send an email to the planning department to support the application via social media.

‘It’s targeting people who will not be impacted by the development with an option to click one button.

‘These people probably like McDonald’s, but what’s not explained to them is that the development is in a residential area which will drive house prices down and cause a nuisance.’

Other residents took issue with the negative environmental and economic effects they said the new McDonald’s restaurant could bring. 

A total of 138 members of the public supported the proposal and McDonald’s said its establishment would contribute to the ‘wider economy of the Isle of Wight’

Local John Rosenthal said: ‘I strongly object to this application for a restaurant with a Drive-Through section which will only create both noise and light pollution for up to 18 hours a day to the residential properties opposite.

‘There is already a planning application that has been passed for three pairs of semi-detached houses with associated parking, and I feel that this should remain.

‘Any extra traffic attached to this will be normal residential movements and not on an industrial scale.

‘This application is too close to several schools; also, it will create extra traffic in the area.

‘The junction of Three Gates Road and Place Road can already be very problematic at times without more cars etc using it.

‘As for their litter picking intentions, these will have very little, if any, effect on the surrounding area; only this morning I photographed McDonald’s rubbish along Gurnard Seafront, presumably from their Newport operation.’

There were a total of 138 representations from members of the public supporting the new proposal.

McDonald’s has already posted the site to its website, saying they were in the process of bringing plans forward for Cowes.

They said they had held two rounds of public consultation in July and October 2025 to enable members of the local community to view and comment on their emerging proposals.

Talking about the plans on their website, they said: ‘McDonald’s has long wanted to expand its offer of amazing value and high-quality British food into Cowes to address an identified demand for a new McDonald’s in the area.

‘The proposed site is located adjacent to Three Gates Road in Cowes and is currently vacant and unused.

‘Our submitted proposals seek to transform this vacant site into a modern employment-generating facility that serves local residents, whilst contributing to the wider economy of the Isle of Wight.’

Craig Higgs deliberately torched a block of Scots flats that endangered the lives of his ex-partner and child as well as other residents.

CCTV footage has captured the chilling moments before a “calculated” domestic abuser deliberately torched a block of flats leaving his former partner and her five-year-old child trapped inside.

Craig Higgs can be seen walking towards Bellfield Court in Musselburgh while looking down at his mobile phone, just minutes before the blaze broke out on April 20, 2022, which also left several other residents unable to escape.

Less than 10 minutes later the communal stairwell of the flats was engulfed in flames after the 37-year-old set fire to a barbecue, a bag of coal and other items before walking away.

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Images released by prosecutors show the horrifying aftermath, with the communal stairwell blackened by soot and smoke damage after the inferno.

Another picture shows the barbecue that was deliberately set alight, while a picture taken outside the flats shows a police cordon surrounding the scene.

The fire left Higgs’ former partner and her young child trapped inside their home as thick smoke rapidly spread through the building, placing their lives at risk.

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The Record reported at the time of the incidents how fire crews raced to the scene when the alarm was raised where residents were seen being evacuated onto the street.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used an enforcer and an axe to smash their way into the property and rescue the mother and child.

Several other residents were also unable to escape until crews brought the blaze under control.

The blaze caused extensive damage to the communal stairwell and a number of flats within the block. Higgs was arrested around three hours later and was still carrying a lighter when officers detained him.

During his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, prosecutors played the CCTV footage showing Higgs arriving in the area at 8.26pm before leaving at 8.36pm. Fire crews were called just seven minutes later, at 8.43pm.

Witnesses also reported seeing a man matching Higgs’ description close to the scene shortly before the fire took hold.

Following the case, Procurator Fiscal Sineidin Corrins said: “Craig Higgs deliberately set a fire which left his former partner and a young child trapped inside their home and placed the lives of other residents in immediate danger.

“This was a calculated and deeply reckless act that put an entire community at risk and could easily have had fatal consequences.”

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Higgs was convicted of wilful fire-raising, endangering the lives of his former partner, the child and other residents. He had previously admitted two charges of threatening or abusive behaviour.

The 37-year-old was jailed for seven years at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday, July 28. A judge also imposed an indefinite non-harassment order banning him from contacting or attempting to contact his former partner.

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The TV star first joined the show back in 2009, but in December, she will leave to take up a new role as co-presenter of 5 Live Breakfast in 2027.

Ms Munchetty said: “I’m thrilled to be joining 5 Live Breakfast in January.

“Live news, great conversations, and connecting with audiences are what I love most about broadcasting, and 5 Live does all of that brilliantly.

“Presenting a flagship programme on 5 Live is an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up.

“It will take a huge amount of work and require 100% of my focus and energy, and I’m really looking forward to throwing myself into the role.”

Her appointment follows the announcement that current 5 Live Breakfast hosts, Rick Edwards and Rachel Burden, will step down in December.

Ms Burden will move to a new mid-morning show on the station, while Mr Edwards will continue to present Fighting Talk and remain part of 5 Live’s broader programming.

Ms Munchetty has hosted 5 Live’s mid-morning show since 2021 and will now bring her trademark style to the breakfast slot, joined by a yet-to-be-named co-host.

Heidi Dawson, controller of BBC Radio 5 Live, said: “Naga is one of the UK’s most accomplished broadcasters and a hugely valued member of the 5 Live family.

“Since joining the station, she has led thoughtful and impactful conversations on everything from breaking news to women’s health, sport and social issues, building a strong connection with our listeners.”

She also paid tribute to Ms Burden’s long tenure on the breakfast show.

She said: “Rachel has been a huge voice on 5 Live Breakfast for many years, bringing wit, intelligence, and sharp journalism to the programme every morning.

“She has a remarkable ability to connect with listeners, whether she’s handling breaking news, conducting thoughtful interviews, or sharing the moments that bring us together.”

Ms Dawson recognised the success of the Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards partnership.

She said: “Together, Rachel and Rick have formed one of radio’s most popular partnerships.

“They have informed, entertained and accompanied millions each morning, and their chemistry, professionalism and commitment have played a huge role in shaping 5 Live Breakfast in recent years.”

Ms Burden, who has spent 15 years on the show, said she was looking forward to her new role.

She said: “After 15 years hosting 5 Live Breakfast, I’ve decided it’s time for a change – and I’m really excited about launching my new show on the station.

“It’s been an absolute joy and privilege to be part of our listeners’ mornings for all these years.”

Mr Edwards said he would miss the show, particularly working with Ms Burden.

He said: “I’ll really miss our wonderful audience, I’ll miss the fantastic team, I’ll miss regularly eating cake before dawn, but most of all I’ll miss Rach – a colleague who has become a friend, and also a mentor, because she’s so much older than me.

“Two things I am, of course, looking forward to are not waking up at 3.45am, and vaping without fear of violent recrimination.”

Ms Munchetty will present 5 Live Breakfast from January 2027, with further details, including her co-host, to be announced later.

John McAndrew, director of live and daily news at the BBC, said Ms Munchetty would be missed on BBC Breakfast.

He said: “After more than a decade on screen for BBC Breakfast, Naga will be hugely missed by the millions of viewers who’ve welcomed her into their homes each week.”

The pathway from Northern Ireland’s villages and towns to top level cricket is not a straightforward route, but Carson hopes his journey can become an inspiration to others, even just as supporter

Rising cricket star Jack Carson admits the Northern Ireland ‘chip on the shoulder’ has helped him get to where he is today.

The 25-year-old Craigavon man has emerged as one of Sussex’s star men, having made his debut back in 2020 in the Bob Willis Trophy.

He finished that summer as the team’s leading wicket taker and was then back to back leading bowler in 2020 and 2021.

Carson his his first century in May 2025 and this May he produced a remarkable 105 rescue act against Surrey when Sussex were 92-7.

Having been awarded his county cap two years ago, Carson has taken on the Sussex captaincy for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign.

They take on Essex on Wednesday (July 29) at Arundel and Carson believes the Northern Ireland underdog mentality has helped him battle his way up the ranks.

“I guess being Northern Irish, we always felt like a bit of a chip on the shoulder, the underdog mentality,” Carson said.

“That’s reflected in how I’ve gone about the game a bit, always trying to be effective in any situation and combative – and that’s probably linked to how I grew up. I played men’s cricket from a young age and had to find ways to be competitive. I’m very proud of my roots,” added the Waringstown native.

“I grew up about 10 metres from the boundary edge of my local cricket club, just beyond the hedges. I was around cricket from an early age, had brothers playing. My dad and my granddad were both heavily involved in cricket.

“I loved the sport and loved trying to get better and my dad was very supportive in that – probably the amount of balls he threw to me between the ages of about eight and 16, I’m surprised he probably hasn’t had to have a shoulder replacement in his 60s now. The sidearm was a great invention for him in that regard, it eased his load a bit! I represented Ireland at under-15 level.

When I grew up, the Irish men’s cricket team was pretty much effectively amateur, but there was quite a few players who made their living in county cricket. And that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to play effectively in county cricket. Like an Ed Joyce or a William Porterfield or a Boyd Rankin and people like that. That was a goal.

“The pathway now, with Test match cricket in Ireland, Irish kids will grow up watching Ireland be a professional men’s team and playing for Ireland will be the end-end goal, which is different from when I grew up.”

The pathway from Northern Ireland’s villages and towns to top level cricket is not a straightforward route, but Carson hopes his journey can become an inspiration to others, even just as supporters

“Hopefully with me becoming a captain in county cricket, we can have extra Sussex fans in Northern Ireland,” he said.

“One of my frustrations when I left was that a lot of the infrastructure and funding and things that were in the pipeline to come into Irish cricket were very Dublin-based.

“The hunger and passion for sport where I grew up is massive and whether it’s rugby, football, cricket, there’s definitely a lot of potential for sports people to come out of those areas.

“It would be awesome if now Sussex and county cricket can reach into Northern Ireland and spike an interest. I’d absolutely love for a kid to wear a Sussex shirt in my village in Northern Ireland.”

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Evolution is a fact of life. So much so that even the theory of evolution is evolving. Lately, a centuries-old discredited idea has been making a strong comeback. It helps us explain scientific observations that according to standard evolutionary theory should be impossible.

I’m referring to Lamarckism, named after theoretical proposals from French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1809. Lamarckism stands for the hypothesis that parents of a given organism may acquire or improve certain characteristics during their lifetimes in response to the demands of their environment. And they then somehow transmit those characteristics to their offspring, making those better able to cope with the same demands too.

Lamarck sought to explain why organisms and their environments fit so well together, and how organisms change over time, as observed in the fossil record. Of course, an alternative explanation was provided by Charles Darwin (and others) half a century later. Darwin’s ideas were built around natural selection, which says that some individuals within a species are born with differences that lead them to perform better and therefore reproduce more than others.

Darwin argued that if these differences can be passed from parent to offspring, the next generation will contain relatively more of these higher performing individuals. In other words, the next generation will have a greater fit with their environment.

Over time, Lamarck’s idea was discredited. A key moment was an experiment performed by Germany’s August Weismann in 1904. He surgically removed the tails of adult rats before allowing them to reproduce, expecting to see this change inherited by their offspring. But it never happened, despite him removing the tails of many generations of rats. Lamarckism as understood then would have predicted that the offspring should have been born with no tails, so for many years biology textbooks presented his theory as a firmly refuted hypothesis.

Where Darwinism falls short

Lamarck’s ideas weren’t entirely wrong, however. Take, for example, the small worm C. elegans. When an adult worm is exposed to external stimuli such as viral or bacterial infections, starvation, or stressful temperatures, it can adapt to cope better over time. And, surprisingly, its subsequent offspring also cope better from the moment they are born – as do successive generations.

It turns out that this occurs via the inheritance of DNA-like molecules called small RNAs (ribonucleic acids). When adult worms experience stress, they produce these RNAs to fine-tune the activity of their genes to mount an effective response. When the worms reproduce, specific proteins transfer these small RNAs to their eggs, meaning the offspring are born with the benefits they provide.

This is like a person receiving a vaccine against flu or measles, developing immunity in response, and then all their newly born children and even grandchildren being immune too. It was previously thought that these kinds of epigenetic molecular marks were always erased during reproduction, meaning offspring have to start their own response from scratch. The fact that acquired traits can actually be inherited is clearly Lamarckism in practice.

It’s also far from unique. There are now dozens if not hundreds of studies showing similar effects in all sorts of species, from bacteria and plants to animals. When rice plants are exposed to cold, for instance, they develop a seemingly permanent resistance by adding chemical tags to their genes. This has enabled them to spread northward from their tropical origins.

Beyond epigenetics, the passing down of learned skills from one generation to another is also a form of Lamarckism. When killer whale mothers acquire the skill to hunt a different type of prey – for example, seals instead of salmon – this skill is copied by their offspring. This has been so reliable across generations and so profound that it even seems to have caused the formation of different species of killer whale.

Does this mean Darwinism is wrong? No, it doesn´t. Natural selection still accurately explains evolutionary processes a large proportion of the time. But as I argue in my new book, The Selective Organism: an Expanded Theory of Adaptive Evolution, we could see Lamarckian acquisition of traits as a second driver of evolution, acting alongside natural selection.

Whereas in Darwinian evolution individuals in a species are a target of natural selection, in which their traits are tested by their environment, in Lamarckian evolution they’re an agent of selection, developing certain traits out of a larger set of potential ones. For instance, the C. elegans worm could potentially produce a number of different RNA molecules (or none). Based on its environment, it selects molecules that help it to survive. In that sense, Lamarckian acquisition can be seen as a form of selection too.

How the theories combine

In my book I also make another argument. When an individual plant or animal is able to transmit acquired beneficial traits to its offspring as per Lamarckism, this should increase the offspring’s chances of survival and subsequent reproduction.

If so, this capacity should also be favoured by natural selection. In other words, Darwinism actually predicts that this Lamarckian capacity should evolve. This means that these are not competing theories but compatible ones, which together provide the best explanation for the evolutionary change of organisms.

Evolution by natural selection has been called “the single best idea anyone has ever had”. Besides explaining the natural world, it has found tremendous application in other areas. It has helped us improve how we breed plants and animals, for instance, and how we combat the evolution of antibiotic resistance in microbes.

The Lamarckian dimension should only further improve these applications. If the exposure of organisms to particular soil, climate, parasites or predators can benefit their offspring, there may be new ways to improve agricultural production. The same goes for conservation: scientists in Australia are already exposing coral to heat stress in the laboratory to trigger epigenetic responses that make them more resilient to heatwaves.

And if human parental behaviours can influence obesity or addiction in their children, then prevention programmes help not only the people that receive them but also future generations.

So after more than 200 years it is time to embrace Lamarckism again, and include it into an updated and improved version of standard evolutionary theory.

The Northumberland campaign was launched by alternative education provider Maximize Education, led by CEO Christine Jamieson, as part of the National Literacy Trust’s National Year of Reading 2026.

Designed to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds, the appeal encouraged donations at schools, libraries, businesses and Maximize Education’s headquarters in Loansdean, Morpeth.

Ms Jamieson said: “I want to say a heartfelt thank you to every single person who donated.

“Whether someone gave one book or dozens, every contribution will help a child discover the magic of reading and the opportunities it can create.

“The kindness shown by our local communities has been remarkable. Schools, libraries, businesses and individuals all came together because they recognised that something as simple as a book can change a child’s future.

“It’s a wonderful reminder of what can be achieved when a community unites behind a common cause.”

Most of the books were collected from schools, which donated more than 3,000 in total.

Libraries gathered more than 1,500, and Tesco Extra in Kingston Park contributed over 600.

Every book will be distributed by the charity Children North East through its community projects and services.

Maximize Education organised the appeal in response to research showing that children living in poverty often have fewer books at home, limiting their literacy development and educational opportunities before they start school.

The organisation says the success of the appeal demonstrates the generosity of local communities and the shared belief that every child should have the opportunity to experience the lifelong benefits that reading can bring.

Leigh Elliott, CEO of Children North East, said: “The dedication and generosity shown by Maximize Education and the local community has been incredible and will make a significant difference to the babies, children, young people, and families we work with, helping to support their reading and language development.

“With far too many children growing up without access to books, it is wonderful to be involved in this initiative.

“We are proud to partner with this organisation and to be part of a campaign that will create lasting benefits for so many across the region.”

“We are one of the worst-affected municipalities, right on the front line of the fire,” Manuel Martinez, mayor of the town Marcheprime, told outlet Franceinfo earlier this morning.

He described it as a “wildfire unlike anything we’ve seen before” that officials are working to understand.

“We are at war with an enemy,” he said, calling for more resources for firefighters.

Captain Wilfried Schneider of SDIS 33, the Gironde Fire and Rescue Service, told the AFP news agency yesterday that the biggest blaze was burning between Marcheprime and Pierroton, on the outskirts of the Bordeaux metropolitan area.

The Gironde prefecture said this morning that the huge wildfire remains “stabilised” following a “calm” night. Overnight flare-ups were brought under control, officials said, adding that the number of firefighters injured has risen to 93.