The Bollihope Burn Birch, a downy birch perched off a cliff edge in Stanhope, Weardale, has made the final ten shortlist for the prestigious national competition from the Woodland Trust.

Public voting opens today (July 23), giving people across the region the chance to back the County Durham entry as it competes for the title.

The annual contest celebrates and raises awareness of rare, ancient or at-risk trees across the country, with this year’s theme, “against all odds”, chosen to spotlight nature’s great survivors.

Of the ten shortlisted trees, a panel of experts selected eight, while the public chose two additional wildcard entries.

The Bollihope Burn Birch tree in Stanhope is one of the UK’s (Image: James Reader/Woodland Trust/PA Wire)

David Oakes, actor, nature podcaster and Woodland Trust ambassador, said the shortlist showcases how differently trees endure hardship compared with creatures that can simply move away.

“Most things survive by fleeing,” he said.

“A tree, rooted for life to a single patch of ground, doesn’t get that option.

“So trees have perfected the opposite: the art of weathering whatever arrives.

“But a few are frankly show-offs.”

He added that all ten nominees, including the County Durham birch, had “defied the odds in extraordinary ways, from clinging to cliffs and church towers, to enduring collisions and cannonballs.”

The Bollihope Burn Birch faces stiff competition from trees with equally dramatic backstories.

They include the “Bomber Oak” in Rutland, struck by a Second World War Lancaster bomber and later nearly lost to a water company’s pipe-laying works.

Also included is the Crowhurst Yew in East Sussex, thought to be up to 4,000 years old, which survived a direct hit from a Civil War cannonball, later dug up by villagers in 1820.

Other rivals for the crown include Northern Ireland’s “Bendy Tree”, a wych elm on Newcastle’s seaside promenade that grows almost horizontally after more than a century of coastal winds, and a 200-year-old yew growing from the top of a church tower in Culmstock, Devon.

The list is completed by the lightning-struck “Earlstoun Lightning Oak” in Dumfries and Galloway, the Wales Coast Path Oak in Ceredigion, and Brighton’s “Preston Twin”, believed to be the world’s oldest English elm.

The two public wildcard picks are the Balloch Castle ash by Loch Lomond, which has weathered lightning strikes, storms, disease and even an Oasis concert, and the Donnington Oak in West Berkshire, which stood unscathed through the siege of Donnington Castle in the Civil War.

People can vote for the Bollihope Burn Birch, or any of its rivals, via the Woodland Trust website until late September, with the winner announced in early October before going on to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year finals.

May Chemais, who runs the Ancient Tree Inventory at the Woodland Trust, said: “Trees can be both tough and flexible, as the shortlist proves.

“We hope people will enjoy discovering all the incredible stories of resilience behind our nominees this year.”

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Lionel Messi‘s popularity among British people has plummeted after Argentina’s shameful World Cup antics. 

Messi is now viewed unfavourably among almost half of the participants surveyed by YouGov. 

It comes after Argentina’s baseless behaviour at the tournament, which ended with them losing 1-0 to Spain in the final and starting fights with the opposition. Enzo Fernandez was sent off in normal time and Leandro Paredes was lambasted for attacking Eric Garcia and Gavi after the match. 

Even Messi was dragged into their pathetic antics in the final, attempting to get Marc Cucurella sent off for briefly putting his hand over his mouth. 

As per FIFA’s rules for this tournament, if a player holds their hand over their mouth in a confrontational situation, they will be sent off. That was the case with Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron and Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie. However, it didn’t appear that Cucurella was speaking in a confrontational manner and neither the referee nor VAR decided to intervene. 

Moreover, many supporters felt throughout the tournament that matches were ‘rigged’ to Argentina’s benefit due to the quantity of refereeing decisions in their favour.

His attempt to get Marc Cucurella sent off for a minor infraction was viewed as pathetic 

And Argentina’s players did not endear themselves to the English public by insisting that the Falkland Islands belong to them in a series of chants and banners. 

All of this has had a deleterious effect on Messi’s popularity. 

Coming into the World Cup, he was viewed favourably by 55 per cent of the public and unfavourably by just nine per cent.

Now, he is seen favourably by only 29 per cent and unfavourably by 44 per cent.

That means that, according to YouGov’s poll, Messi’s net favourability rating among Britons has fallen from +46 to -15. In short, people don’t like him very much.

His score is far worse than his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, whose net rating is -2. 

And he certainly lost his stock with Daily Mail Sport’s veteran columnist Jeff Powell, who bunged Messi out of his top five all-time players for his antics. 

In fairness, Messi, who scored eight goals throughout the World Cup, was often a beautiful and refreshing counterpoint to his more thuggish team-mates.

Messi avoided a red card for an apparent stamp during Argentina’s first game vs Algeria

He also rose off the floor to shake Lamine Yamal’s hand after the whistle on Sunday, when other team-mates were picking fights. Argentina also turned their backs on the victors during their trophy celebration. 

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra-time thanks to a 106th-minute winner from Ferran Torres.

Any accusations of refereeing favouritism towards Argentina in the final were quelled by the sending-off of their midfielder Enzo Fernandez in the dying minutes of normal time.

But many people found it inexplicable that Spain’s Nico Williams had a goal ruled out for a dubious foul on Nicolas Otamendi in the build-up.

That followed a pattern of questionable decisions made in favour of Argentina throughout the tournament.

Lionel Messi arguably should have been punished for a stamp in Argentina’s first group match against Algeria – but he escaped a card entirely.

Messi, who scored a hat-trick in the match, caught Algeria captain Aissa Mandi on his right calf and Achilles tendon with his studs in a challenge after his first goal.

Algeria were given a free-kick by the referee but the incident was not even reviewed by VAR officials.

Meanwhile, Egypt reacted explosively after a string of critical decisions went against them in their last-16 match against Argentina.

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan furiously accused FIFA of rigging the World Cup after his side were knocked out by Argentina 

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Switzerland accused referee Joao Pinheiro of giving Argentina ‘every decision’ 

Lautaro Martinez avoided a booking for jumping into the crowd after scoring his goal against Switzerland

First, forward Mostafa Ziko had a goal ruled out after a VAR review because of an apparent foul by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez. That foul had occurred 18 seconds before at the other end of the pitch. Attia definitely caught Martinez – the debate is over whether not giving anything was a clear and obvious error.

What Egypt were more furious about is the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal. They contend that they should have had a penalty at the other end moments before.

Mohamed Salah was brought down inside the box after having his foot clipped by Julian Alvarez, but VAR did not even seem to check the incident. Argentina had gone the other end and scored, in stoppage-time no less – but Egypt should admit that their defending was shoddy.

Pharaohs manager Hossam Hassan was apoplectic in his post-match interview. ‘We were better, but football is unfair,’ he said.

‘It could be a matter of marketing, they could want to make a World Cup with the champion of the last World Cup, they want Messi to exist (in the tournament).

He added later: ‘Why isn’t there any fairness in sport? In football? I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice.’

Moreover, Switzerland were incandescent after their quarter-final defeat by Argentina, accusing the referees of being ‘one-sided’ and ‘against’ them.

The major controversy of the match is the dismissal of Breel Donald Embolo with a second yellow card after diving.

Argentina consistently referred to the Falkland Islands throughout the World Cup 

Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes was initially given a yellow card for a foul on Embolo. However, referee Joao Pinheiro was then instructed to review the decision by VAR under a new ‘mistaken identity’ rule.

The review showed that Embolo had initiated the contact with Paredes, leaving his right leg trailing to make contact with the Argentine, before tumbling to his left. The rule allows for a decision to be changed in the event a player has been booked or sent off, but the infringement was actually committed by the opposition.

Embolo was the one at fault for simulation, and so he was shown a second yellow. The striker was in tears after becoming the first player to be caught out by the rule, but it was clearly the right call.

Nevertheless, after the game, multiple figures from the Swiss camp stepped forward to air their grievances.

Granit Xhaka said: ‘If you have to lose because of one decision from the referee, it’s painful but it was his decision. It’s difficult to accept now after a game because the dressing room was very quiet, disappointed. If you are disappointed after the game against this Argentina team, it shows a big mentality.

‘The rules are the rules and we can’t change them but it’s a decision where you kill the game. That’s my opinion. I don’t know what else he can do but just don’t kill the game. We were so good in the game. I believed that at 11 versus 11 we would have had them but it’s very difficult to find the right words after the game.’

Defender Manuel Akanji said: ‘When you have the referee against you, it becomes difficult. Every little thing was called against us. Every dive and every foul by the Argentinians went unpunished. I don’t usually say anything against the officials, but I’ve never experienced such a one-sided game as today.

‘As soon as the game was over, I thought: I’m so proud of our team. What we’ve achieved throughout the entire tournament, and especially today… We played against the world champions, and they didn’t stand a chance.

FIFA have strenuously denied accusations of ‘rigging’ the World Cup in Argentina’s favour

‘I can’t recall a single scoring opportunity from open play where we were lucky. If the game had continued 11 against 11, it would have likely gone in our favour.’

Team-mate Remo Freuler said: ‘We had high hopes and put in a superb performance until the red card. That, of course, disrupted our flow. I still don’t understand how VAR can intervene in such a situation. FIFA needs to explain that to me.’

Manager Yakin added: ‘After the equaliser, we clearly had the momentum on our side. Unfortunately, this was punished by a refereeing error. The referee shouldn’t have given the Argentinian a yellow card in that situation.

‘There’s no reason for it; the incident wasn’t malicious or rough or anything like that. Then he corrects his own mistake and punishes us. That’s incomprehensible and beyond my comprehension.

‘The decision is baffling to me, there was no reason for it. It’s a shame.’

Finally, Argentina have so far avoided punishment from FIFA despite their repeated chants referring to the Falkland Islands.

FIFA’s rules strictly prohibit political chanting, slogans, and banners inside tournament venues. Haiti were forced to remove a small reference to their independence war on their kits just days before the tournament.

After the semi-final against England, Argentina’s players held up a banner saying that ‘Las Malvinas son argentinas’ – The Falklands are Argentine. They may face disciplinary action for this, but didn’t ahead of the final against Spain.

The Argentinians even got support from the US government over that. Andrew Giuliani, the head of the White House FIFA task force, said: ‘We believe in our First Amendment rights here in the United States of America.’

Trust has been low in FIFA for a long time and their decision to suspend USA forward Folarin Balogun’s ban so that he could play against Belgium after a phone call from Donald Trump did not help to restore confidence.

UFC 6 and Meccha Chameleon are the best-selling games of the month, as Xbox Series X/S sales jump by 86%.

After selling 15 million copies, indie hit Meccha Chameleon has made a significant splash on the US sales charts for June. 

As shared by by Circana’s Mat Piscatella, the indie hide-and-seek ‘friendslop’ hit, developed by lemorion_1224, debuted as the second best-selling game of the month based on dollar sales. It was only outsold by another new entry, EA Sports UFC 6, at number one.

Since US charts are based purely on revenue, and not unit sales, that almost certainly means Meccha Chameleon was the number one seller of the month and likely by a considerable margin, given it only costs £5.29 but UFC 6 is £69.99.

Meccha Chameleon also outperformed fellow new entry Star Fox, which debuted at number four. However, considering Star Fox didn’t launch until the end of the month, on June 25, it’s only taking into account the first week of sales until July 4. 

Hardware-wise, the Nintendo Switch 2 was the best-selling console across unit and dollar sales, although it saw a drop of 79% compared to the year prior. This isn’t too surprising though, as June 2025 was when the console launched. 

As such, all the hardware spending figures are skewed against the Switch 2’s launch the year prior. Overall hardware spending declined 62% to $383 million, while PlayStation 5 spending fell by 19% year-on-year. 

Weirdly, however, hardware spending on the Xbox Series X/S shot up by 86% compared to the year prior. According to Piscatella, June was the highest selling month for Xbox consoles in terms of units in 2026, although that might not be saying much given how low sales have been for Xbox overall.

Xbox Series had a good June in the US. Units up 86% vs last June, avg price up as well. Highest US Xbox Series units this year. Last June, Xbox Series was seeing impact of the May price increase and the Switch 2 launch. So, big % growth on a smaller base last year. Still, good month for Xbox Series.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-07-22T13:10:36.123Z

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Similarly, as Piscatella notes, Xbox Series X/S sales in June 2025 were notably low due to the May price increase and the Switch 2’s launch, so this sharp jump appears to just be an adjustment from a particularly dire June last year. 

The Nintendo Switch 2 is still the best-selling console of 2026 so far in the US, ahead of the PlayStation 5. However, it remains to be seen if it can keep up the pace when the price hike hits in September. 

Similarly, it’s unclear if Meccha Chameleon will also go the distance. As noted on SteamDB, the game’s player count has dropped notably on Steam since launch, from over 340,000 concurrent players to an average of 50,000 players, so it may just be a flash in the pan.

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LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s announcements during his first 24 hours on the job underscore the political and financial challenges he faces as he tries to jump-start the country’s sluggish economy.

Burnham, from Britain’s left-leaning Labour Party, faces restive voters seeking relief from the high cost of living. At the same time, the investors who help finance the government by buying its bonds are demanding that he reduce public sector debt that has ballooned to levels last seen in the 1960s.

In an effort to balance the competing demands, Burnham surprised pundits by naming former Defense Secretary John Healey as his Treasury chief. Healey, who served in the Treasury under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is seen as someone who will make sure the government lives up to its pledge to reduce Britain’s debt pile.

Then, first thing Tuesday morning, Burnham made a down payment on his commitment to ease the pressure on cash-strapped consumers. The government announced it would scrap the tax on home electricity use for at least six months beginning in October, saving the average household 45 pounds ($60) a year.

Importantly, the government said the move would be paid for by canceling plans to introduce digital ID, in an effort to reassure investors that Burnham isn’t about to go on an unfunded spending spree.

Treasury chief has a big job ahead

“Healey has a daunting task on his hands,’’ said Victoria Scholar, the head of investment at interactive investor.

“The government has ambitious plans to tackle cost-of-living pressures … but he faces a very difficult set of public finances to carry these expensive plans through.”

Now that he’s controlling the purse strings, Burnham faces the same issues that have bedeviled every prime minister since the financial crisis of 2008. And their failure to find answers is a big part of the reason that the eight men and women who have taken up residence behind the famous black door at 10 Downing Street in that period have had an average tenure of two years.

Burnham, like his predecessors, faces the challenge of finding a way to reinvigorate an economy that has grown an average of less than 1.5% a year since 2009, compared with an annual average of 3% in the 15 years before the financial crisis.

Burnham received a boost to his cost-of-living reduction agenda Wednesday when inflation fell to its the lowest rate in 15 months in June, buoyed by a drop of food and fuel prices. The rate of the Consumer Prices Index was 2.6% in June, down from 2.8% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics. But experts warn the good news may be short-lived because the conflict in the Middle East will continue to put pressure on wholesale energy prices.

As he develops his economic plans, Burnham will be constrained by promises to reduce government debt, which now exceeds 95% of gross domestic product. According to Britain’s budget watchdog, debt interest payments rose to 111.2 billion pounds ($149 billion), or 8.3% of government spending, in the financial year that ended in April, leaving less money to spend on government services ranging from healthcare to education and defense.

New challenges are added to the old ones

But he also faces a new challenge after his predecessor, like most other European governments, pledged to increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035. That came after pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticized his allies for not paying their fair share of Europe’s defense.

Meeting that commitment will cost about 36 billion pounds a year, or 500 pounds for each person in the U.K., according to estimates from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a respected independent researcher.

“We should absolutely acknowledge that these constraints are structural,” said Olivia O’Sullivan at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. “They would be tough for any prime minister at this time.”

And that’s why boosting economic output is so crucial to all of Burnham’s plans.

Sluggish growth doomed former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government when angry Labour lawmakers forced him to cancel welfare cuts designed to help balance the budget. More recently he was widely criticized for failing to offer a credible plan for increasing defense spending.

Some Labour supporters have grumbled that the government “shouldn’t be in hock to the bond market.” But economists say Burnham and Healey must take the financial constraints seriously if they are going to succeed in bolstering the economy and increasing the pot available to fund popular programs.

“It’s not some imaginary bogeyman in the bond market,” said David Aikman, director of the independent National Institute of Economic and Social Research. “We need people to buy the debt we’re issuing.”

So far, Burnham has offered little detail on his plans for the British economy.

His big idea is to “reindustrialize” the economy by shifting investment away from London to other parts of the country that were hard hit by the decline in manufacturing. Burnham also says he will increase construction of public housing to address the nation’s housing shortage and bolster the construction industry, and support the small and medium-size businesses that account for 60% of private employment.

At the same time, he has pledged to stick to Labour’s promises not to raise taxes on working people and to maintain the “triple lock” on state pensions, an expensive policy that guarantees pensions will rise each year by the annual increase in consumer price inflation, average wage growth, or 2.5%, whichever is higher.

Jim O’Neill, a former chief economist for Goldman Sachs and member of the House of Lords who has advised Burnham in the past, told the BBC last month that Britain’s new prime minister must “get real.”

“We need somebody that’s prepared to do something bold and different,” he said.

Burnham, he added, “has got the same challenge that everybody else seems to avoid and that’s doing something about things like welfare, stop this never-ending spectacular rise in the spending on NHS. … Do something about the triple lock, etc., etc., and get out of this weird sort of prison of being owned by every little small group that opposes anything anybody wants to do. “

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says Trump Accounts could hoist children out of poverty and give more Americans the chance to benefit from investments in the stock market. But some parents say they’re still waiting for the money to arrive.

Trump on Wednesday plans to speak at a Georgia high school to promote the investment accounts, which offer $1,000 in seed money to every child born during his second term. The accounts went live July 4, two days before Trump rang the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the Oval Office.

The tax-advantaged accounts, created last year through Trump’s signature tax and spending cuts bill, can be opened for any child under the age of 18. The Treasury Department boasts 6.5 million sign-ups for Trump Accounts, with 1.5 million of those eligible for the $1,000 seed funding for babies born from 2025 through 2028.

Boosters of the program say it’s a chance to give more Americans a stake in the stock market. They hope it will stem the rising popularity of democratic socialists, who seek to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy people to ease the cost of things like food and healthcare for low-income and middle-class Americans.

After the Trump Accounts are set up, parents, relatives, friends and employers can contribute to them. Some billionaires have also pledged philanthropic contributions. The money is turned over to private firms that invest it in index funds, a type of mutual fund that tracks the performance of the stock market. The money can’t be accessed until the child turns 18, and only then for specific purposes, such as going to school, opening a business or buying a home.

Some parents say they’ve been told it could take 4 weeks

For babies born since Trump took office last year, $1,000 from the U.S. Treasury is supposed to kick off the accounts. While some parents report receiving the money, others said in interviews and on social media they’re still waiting for the accounts to receive $1,000.

Masaki and Kristina McLellan, new parents from Bergen County, New Jersey, said in an interview they were wary of signing up for the accounts because they worried it was a promotional stunt for the president. But the $1,000 incentive persuaded the couple, whose daughter Maya was born in late March, to start an account anyway.

Masaki McLellan said he applied for the account July 6. At first, the application was rejected, but the account was activated after he spent an hour on the Trump Account hotline. He was told he’d see the money in the account in 10 days. Now, he says, he’s been told it will take up to four weeks.

Kristina McLellan said she was disappointed it was taking so long to fund her daughter’s account. But the infant has multiple other investments already compounding for her. Maya’s parents have already started a 529 college savings plan and a custodial brokerage account for her. The Trump Account is the third investment account in the little girl’s name.

“We definitely want to give her options for her future and make sure she can choose what she wants to do,” said McLellan, a studio director for a local news station, who returns from maternity leave next week.

Treasury says most parents wait only 1 or 2 days

The Treasury Department said that the lag between opening an account and receiving the seed funding constitutes “standard processing time, like receiving a tax refund,” and that the overwhelming majority of parents are waiting only one to two days. But the department likes to give parents a conservative estimate for how long it might take for the money to be transferred, such as the estimate of up to four weeks given to the McLellans.

“Trump Accounts level the playing field by allowing every parent to invest in their children’s future, not just wealthy families with trust funds,” the department said. “With roughly 1 million sign-ups per month before launch, Trump Accounts have become the most popular and successful government-backed savings product in U.S. history.”

Trump faces pressure over his handling of the economy

Trump’s stop in Georgia comes as he and fellow Republicans face pressure in the midterm elections for their handling of the economy. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, among the lower ratings of his second term, according to a June survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Trump pledged to lower costs, but his tariffs and the war in Iran have instead helped to increase prices.

Trump Accounts are similar to baby bonds, championed by Democratic-led cities and states meant to shrink the wealth gap between low- and high-income children. But unlike most baby bonds, which generally target kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, Trump Accounts are available to families of all incomes.

The program has faced criticism from those who say it does nothing to help families in a child’s first years of life, when children are most likely to experience poverty, homelessness and hunger. And the Republican bill that created the program also slashed funding for programs that are disproportionately used by children, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

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This story has been corrected to show the mother’s surname is McLellan, not McClellan.

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Associated Press writer Adriana Morga contributed to this report.

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

Andrew Tate, 39, was charged with seven further counts of rape, three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and 19 additional charges for offences relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.

The cloying praise showered on Keir Starmer by Labour MPs as he exited No 10 this week was almost enough to convince you that they’d got rid of him for being too popular, Peter Hitchens has joked. 

Speaking on the latest episode of the Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast, the longstanding Mail on Sunday columnist pointed to the number of figures in the Commons lauding the departing PM’s wisdom and achievements – fresh from stabbing him in the back politically. 

Tributes came from seemingly all quarters, including Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who called on Keir Starmer to resign in February over the Mandelson scandal.

Sarwar, who has been offered a seat in the House of Lords in order to feature in Burnham’s Cabinet, spoke of the ex-PM’s ‘integrity’ and ‘determination’ and his glowing ‘legacy’. 

Meanwhile newly-appointed Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, a close Burnham ally who resigned as a minister in May after declaring she had lost confidence in Starmer, praised Sir Keir for ‘bringing Labour back into Government and putting public service back at the heart of national life.’ 

As well as mocking the hypocrisy of Labour MPs, Hitchens also took a shot at the new Prime Minister for acting like he had no involvement in his predescessor’s overthrow.

‘As far as one could discover from the House of Commons last week, Keir Starmer was got rid of because he was so wonderful and because everybody loved him,’ he joked. 

‘And this is quite strange. And Burnham had absolutely nothing to do with removing him, and has just inherited the post completely by accident, which is again fascinating.’ 

Hitchens joked that the process by which the MP for Makerfield became Prime Minister was ‘even more obscure than the process by which people become leader of North Korea‘. 

‘You know that the person who wins has to be called Kim, but there was no such certainty in this,’ he added.

Hitchen’s co-host Sarah VIne also took issue with the way Burnham was catapulted into No10 on the back of his majority in Makerfield.  

‘I think the way that he has achieved power is, I wouldn’t say dishonest, but just a bit disingenuous,’ she said. 

‘You know, a person stepped aside so that he could stand in a in a constituency. He was then elected. 

‘He’s then been crowned the leader of the of the Labour Party, which means that he’s there, really, on the say so of, what, 17,000 people?

‘I think if he’s got any decency, that might eat away at him a little bit.’ 

Vine also flexed her conspiratorial side as she questioned whether Starmer had just been brought in as a Trojan horse for the more left-wing Burnham. 

Alas Vine & Hitchens: What’s the big idea? Listen to the Mail’s politics podcast, hosted by top columnists Sarah Vine and Peter Hitchens, wherever you listen to podcasts 

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‘I actually think that this whole thing could have been planned. I think that because there’s obviously there’s no obvious reason behind it,’ she said. 

‘Starmer made a lot of mistakes and he had the terrible Peter Mandelson affair, but none of those things really are quite enough. 

‘I mean, none of the things that he did were really, really terrible, and yet he’s gone. So it’s like, well, hang on a second. 

‘It seems to me that at some point, someone must have explained to Starmer that actually his job was not to be Prime Minister, but in fact his job was to prepare the ground for the coming of the great King of the North.’

The duo also dismissed Andy Burnham‘s desire for a return to a life before Thatcherism, with Vine branding Britain’s new PM ‘naive’. 

In his first speech after becoming Labour leader, Burnham signalled a lurch to the Left, resolving to underdo the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. 

Burnham said: ‘I am clear: Britain took a series of wrong-turns in the 1980s. Political power was centralised and economic power was privatised.

‘The country surrendered control of the essentials – housing, water, energy, transport – and left people exposed to higher costs.

Andy Burnham was greeted by an adoring crowd of aides and supporters outside No10 as he was sworn in as PM on Monday 

‘That, in turn, led to the concentration of more wealth and power in the hands of fewer people and fewer places.’

He added: ‘If we want an economy and a country that works for all people and places – which to me should always be at the very core of Labourism – then it requires a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years.’ 

However, speaking on the podcast, Vine mocked Burnham’s claims, calling them a ‘rhetorical fantasy’. 

‘Is this not just a sort of rhetorical fantasy? And and you know, isn’t it a bit worrying that this is what he’s he’s doing?’ she asked. 

 Her co-host Peter Hitchens was slightly more forgiving, arguing that while it was unachieveable, he understood the desire to hark back to the 1970s. 

‘You can see why why people might want to might want to do that, because for many people that was a time of full employment before deindustrialization and before many of the of the chaotic things which have invaded our lives took place,’ Hitchens said. 

‘I’m a Conservative, and I look back on the Thatcher era with dismay.’

By LILY JOBSON, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER

Published: 16:43 BST, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 17:55 BST, 22 July 2026

James Norton has revealed he caused ‘pandemonium’ at a star-studded GQ dinner when he almost fainted because of his diabetes.

The actor, 41, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 22 and uses a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to help manage it, along with daily doses of insulin.

James explained he started ‘sweating and began feeling wobbly’ at the event in 2024 after being unable to eat the correct food needed once he put his insulin in.

He was sitting on a table alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman when he began feeling faint. 

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Speaking on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, James recalled having to ask a waitress for substantial food to stop him from fainting. 

He said: ‘I was at a GQ event once and I put my insulin in, thinking that we were going to have some bread with the starter. 

James Norton has revealed he caused ‘pandemonium’ at a star-studded GQ dinner when he almost fainted because of his diabetes

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‘The starter arrived, and it was this little bit of smoked trout with no carbs. I was on the high table and they were honoring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman and all these people, and there were speeches after the starter.

‘So I was sitting there, having done my insulin, having eaten this trout, going, “I’ve got 10 minutes before I start to faint, basically”, and I couldn’t interrupt the speeches because I was sitting on the high table.

‘I eventually started sweating, and like you know, you get really wobbly. You eventually will faint. 

‘So I walked over to the back to the lady that was standing behind my table, saying, “I’m a diabetic. I need some food quickly”. So she gave me a chocolate bar and some juice, and I thought I was okay. Went back, sat back down. 

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‘What I didn’t realise was that pandemonium had broken out backstage, and they were like, “James Norton’s about to have a hypo!” So in the middle of Nicole Kidman’s speech, someone randomly brings me a steaming plate of potatoes. 

‘It basically looked like “This is b***s***. James is hungry. Give him some potatoes.’

Type 1 diabetes is a life-long autoimmune disease that causes the level of glucose in your blood to become too high, which happens when your body cannot produce enough insulin. 

This is controlled by daily injections of insulin which keeps the blood glucose levels low and under control. 

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James has also spoken frankly about having to stitch special pockets into his costumes in some shows to hold sugar tablets.

He was sitting on the most prestigious table alongside Jude Law (pictured) and Nicole Kidman when he began feeling faint

The actor, 41, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 22 and uses a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to help manage it, along with daily doses of insulin 

‘It’s interesting being on stage or on set because your body is full of adrenaline and that screws up your sugar’, he said in 2017.

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‘Especially when I’m on stage for a full hour and a half. I have to anticipate it at the beginning of the show and make sure my sugar levels are going up or are at least stable. 

‘In period plays, I’ve had to stitch little pockets in my costume for sugar tablets.’

He also recalled how a co-star once thought he was going into diabetic shock while he was starring in Journey’s End, a play about the First World War, back in 2011.

Explaining how he started to shake and sweat from the adrenaline on stage, he described: ‘Pandemonium broke loose.

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‘The next thing I know, they’re improvising and offering me Lucozade in a teacup, saying, “Cup of tea, sir?” and putting biscuits all over the dugout. So there have been moments where diabetes and theatre have collided.

What is Type 1 Diabetes?  

Type 1 diabetes causes the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to become too high.

It happens when your body cannot produce enough of a hormone called insulin, which controls blood glucose.

You need daily injections of insulin to keep your blood glucose levels under control.

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Managing type 1 diabetes can take time to get used to, but you can still do all the things you enjoy. This guide is here to help.

Type 1 diabetes is not linked with age or being overweight – these things are linked with type 2 diabetes.

Source: NHS

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By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 13:46 BST, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 17:56 BST, 22 July 2026

Airports across Europe have been hit with massive queues, with some travel hubs seeing long lines snaking out their front entrances. 

The continent recently introduced new border rules that one airport boss said has nearly tripled the amount of time it takes Britons to get through passport control. 

Footage taken from Corfu Airport and shared to social media showed a long line of disgruntled flyers waiting on the pavement outside the airport. 

One woman was seen fanning herself to fight off the hot weather. 

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The clip then cuts to inside the airport, before passport control, where the queue has all but come to a standstill.

The footage was shared by a social media user, who wrote: ‘Still queuing outside Corfu Airport with just over an hour to go til [sic] my flight sets off.’ 

In a video taken in Faro Airport in Portugal yesterday morning, a vast queue had formed ahead of passport control, with few in the line looking happy. 

The clip was shared with the caption: ‘If you are travelling today, be prepared.’ 

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Footage taken from Corfu Airport and shared to social media showed a long line of disgruntled flyers waiting on the pavement outside the airport

In a video taken in Faro Airport in Portugal yesterday morning, a vast queue had formed ahead of passport control

Over in Montenegro’s Tivat Airport, large lines were seen outside the travel hub, while the inside saw a huge mass of people waiting to check their bags in. 

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The caption for the video read: ‘Tivat Airport is not for the weak…’

And at Greece’s Kos Airport there were scenes of chaos as countless people were trying to get on their planes home.  

A woman shared her experience on TikTok, highlighting a massive queue through duty free.  

Showing the time on her watch, which read 1.04pm, she wrote: ‘We’d already been in the queue from 12.30.’

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She then showed a clip of more dense queues, before cutting to a second shot of her watch, which this time read 1.55pm, adding: ‘We got through just after 2pm.’

Earlier this week, Ivan Bassato – the head of aviation at Rome’s Fiumicino airport – told the BBC that the EU’s new Entry Exit System (EES) had driven up the average time it takes for Britons to get through airport security from seven to 20 minutes. 

He said: ‘We are not at the point where you have the same quality of the process [as] before the EES.’

Over in Montenegro’s Tivat Airport, large lines were seen outside the travel hub

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At Greece’s Kos Airport there were scenes of chaos as countless people were trying to get on their planes home

He added that his airport has found it impractical to have large numbers of passengers using the self-service kiosks, despite their £10.2million cost. 

Portugal’s Faro Airport added that the technology driving the EES suffered from bugs, though insisted that any queues would quickly go down. 

Superintendent Pedro Oliveira, who is in charge of border control at Faro airport, said: ‘Sometimes what used to be a 10-minute queue… takes over 30 minutes.’

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