Keir Starmer repeatedly dodged questions about the Peter Mandelson scandal during a bizarre PMQs performance.

The PM refused to say whether he had personally spoken to the disgraced former peer before making him the UK’s ambassador to Washington – even though No.10 has previously admitted he did not.

Mandelson was sacked by Starmer after just six months in the job after the full extent of his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.

At prime minister’s questions, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch asked Starmer several times to confirm that he handed Mandelson the plum diplomatic role without speaking to him first.

But the PM chose instead to talk about Badenoch’s shifting position on Iran and Tory frontbencher Nick Timothy’s “appalling” tweet about Muslim group prayer in Trafalgar Square.

The Tory leader said: “Did the prime minister personally speak to Peter Mandelson about his relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein before appointing him as our ambassador to Washington?”

The prime minister replied: “Let me start where I must. This was my mistake in making the appointment, and I’ve apologised to the victims of Epstein, I do so again.

“The matter of process was looked at by the independent adviser on ministerial standards. It’s clear the appointment process wasn’t strong enough, and that’s why I’ve already strengthened it.

“But it was my mistake, and I’ve apologised for it. She should follow suit and apologise for her gross error of judgment in calling for the UK to join the war in Iran without thinking through the consequences.”

When Badenoch asked him again, the PM replied: “She appointed the shadow justice secretary. He said last night that Muslims praying in public, including the mayor of London, practising his faith are not welcome.

“He described it as an act of domination. Straight from the Islamist playbook. If he was in my team, he’d be gone. It’s utterly appalling. She should denounce his comments and she should sack him.”

The Tory leader then tried a third time to get a straight answer out of the PM.

She said: “I know he doesn’t want to talk about the documents he tried to bury last week, he’s going to try and talk about anything else, but he’s not going to get away with it. I asked him a question, he did not answer.

“He knew that Mandelson stayed in Epstein’s house after Epstein had been convicted for child prostitution. He knew that. So I will ask him again, did he speak to Peter Mandelson about this before the appointment? Yes or no?”

But Starmer told her: “The independent adviser has looked at it, and he said, quote ‘the relevant process for a political appointee was followed’.

“Now, obviously this is a question of my judgment, but what about her judgment? She wanted to rush into a war with Iran without thinking it through.”

Line Of Duty bosses have announced more information about the new and returning cast members appearing in the BBC police drama’s long-awaited seventh season.

Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar will all be reprising their roles in the new run of episodes, which are due to air next year, with Bafta winner Robert Carlyle announcing last month that he’s also set to play a new character.

On Wednesday morning, more casting information was revealed, and there’ll be some familiar faces returning alongside some new additions.

These newbies will include Tom Weston-Jones, who has previously appeared in Sanditon, Warrior and Copper, as well as Laura Aikman, perhaps best known to Gavin & Stacey fans as Smithy’s girlfriend Sonia in the two most recent stand-alone specials.

In a press release, Tom’s character is described as the leader of Tactical Operations Unit 7 (TO-7), a “charismatic officer who has won plaudits for a string of takedowns of organised crime”, who is “accused of abusing his position of trust to act as a sexual predator”, while Laura will play a new police officer, Paula Beckman.

Also joining the cast are David Calder, Levi Brown and Amy Leigh Hickman, while Mark Bonnar, Owen Teale, Perry Fitzpatrick and Christina Chong are all set to return.

Further new cast members include Steven Elder, Dominic Mafham , Sarah Andre White, Aimee Powell and Naomi Yang.

Showrunner Jed Mercurio enthused: “I’m honoured to be working with our brilliant new cast members, and I know the audience will be thrilled to see some much-loved old faces returning from previous seasons.”

As well as writing all six episodes of Line Of Duty’s next iteration, Jed will also direct the second half of the season.

Meanwhile, The Sun recently reported that season seven would once again focus on the mysterious “H”, after many viewers were unimpressed with how things played out in the most recent finale.

Keir Starmer called for Kemi Badenoch to sack one of her Tory frontbenchers during an irate prime minister’s questions.

The prime minister suggested the Conservative leader drops shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy after he attacked a large Muslim prayer ceremony which took place in central London on Tuesday.

Starmer squeezed the jibe in after Badenoch made several digs about the prime minister’s judgement in appointing Peter Mandelson to be the UK’s ambassador to Washington – despite his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Rather than responding directly, the PM read out Timothy’s explosive tweet from Tuesday night, where he called a group prayer event “a declaration of domination”.

Starmer told the Commons: “He [Timothy] said last night that Muslims praying in public, including the mayor of London, practising his faith, are not welcome.

“He described it as ‘an act of domination, straight from the Islamist playbook’.

“If he were in my team, he’d be gone.

“It’s utterly appalling. She should denounce his comments and she should sack him.”

Badenoch replied by criticising the justice secretary David Lammy for his attempts to abolish jury trials.

“My shadow justice secretary is defending British values. I know who I would rather have sitting on the front bench next to me and it is not him,” the Tory leader said, pointing at Lammy.

The PM replied: “Even Tommy Robinson – I can hardly believe I am saying this – has said today that if the shadow justice secretary had made these hateful comments two years ago, the Conservative Party would have kicked him out.

“Tommy Robinson isn’t some sort of moral signpost. He was pointing out how much their party has changed. They’re more inclined to his views. And he’s right about that.

“The fact that he’s sitting there on her front bench shows she’s too weak and has absolutely no judgement.”

Robinson, formerly known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a far-right agitator.

The PM added that he thought those religious gatherings showed “the great strength of our diverse city and country”.

“The only conclusion is the Tory party has a problem with Muslims,” Starmer said, again lashing out at Timothy for spreading “poison and division”.

The PM’s attack comes after Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell also condemned Timothy’s post on X as an “extreme reaction”.

She said: “What an extreme reaction from a member of the Shadow Cabinet. Across the country today Muslims, Christians, those of faith & of none, have worked, learned, shared & broken fast together. That is real Britain, not the desperate hatred being whipped up here by a leading Tory.”

Every year, Comic Relief sees different celebrities taking on a variety of grueling challenges in the name of fundraising – and Greg James’ latest is an especially mammoth one.

The Radio 1 host is currently in the middle of an eight-day cycling challenge that will take him 1,000km from Weymouth to Edinburgh, eight years on from his last physical endurance test.

Over the last week, Greg has received a wave of support from the British public as he slogs his way through the task – particularly as he announced he’d still be going ahead with it in light of the news that his father had suffered a stroke.

As you’d expect from any long-running stunt involving Greg, there’ve been plenty of memorable moments so far, and here are just some of the highlights…

On his fifth day of cycling, Greg was taken completely off guard when he was led down an alternative route, where Prince William was waiting for him.

“There are lots of things you don’t expect in life. You definitely don’t expect to see Prince William at a truck stop,” the presenter told the BBC.

“And I then went, ’OK, I’m trying to get my head into gear of like, oh, I need to talk to [a member of] the Royal Family now after being on a bike for the last three hours.”

Greg continued: “He was sat behind my bum on the bike. I said, ‘I’m sorry, how the mighty fall. I’m sorry that you’re sitting behind this now. I’m really sorry that this is what you have to deal with’

“But I was amazed that he even wanted to ride.”

He later admitted: “People are asking me, ‘what was it like to be on the bike with Prince William?’ I don’t know yet, because I haven’t had the chance to process it. I’m numb – I don’t know what’s going on!”

Regular Radio 1 listeners will know that on the breakfast show, Greg invites callers to share their “unpopular opinions” with him, which he and his guests will then debate.

Prince William’s? “Sara Cox’s challenge was harder.”

When he’s not behind the handlebars, Greg has been updating his mum on his progress over the phone, which has made for both touching and hilarious viewing.

She also turned up to surprise him at the day two finish line, where the two shared a hug.

Before setting off, Greg requested that Radio 1 played Coldplay’s Paradise, which he said was his dad’s favourite song.

“I started to cry there, in a nice way,” he later shared. “I was doing up my little shoes and I got a message from my mum, who said: ‘I’ll tell dad later that you played it for him’.”

Shortly afterwards, Greg also received a message of support from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who joked: “I’m a bit confused. I’m with my BMX just outside Bristol. You said to meet me for a bike ride. I’ve been waiting here for about three weeks. Where are you? What do you want me to do?

“I want to help you on your bike ride. But I’m in my shorts, I’ve run out of sandwiches. I might get the train back to America. Wherever you are, I love you and I send you so much goodwill. You must be quick on your bike because I can’t seem to catch you.”

With days still left on the challenge, Greg’s supporters have already donated more than £1 million to Comic Relief, as he learned during a break on his fifth day of cycling.

Making the news even more exciting, it was delivered by his cycling buddy Prince William.

The Hunter Foundation has also said they will match donations of up to a million pounds, meaning that Comic Relief will receive at least £2 million off the back of Greg’s efforts.

“It’s so cool that this stupid challenge has got people out and together and enjoying it and tracking it and all the rest of it,” Greg said on Tuesday. “And most importantly, raising loads of money. Every pedal feels worth it when I keep seeing that total go up.

“And I mean, I really don’t want to do much more, but actually, if it kept going up like this, I would just stay on this bike forever, because it’s an inconvenience for me, definitely, but the good is outweighing the bad, for sure.”

Not only did a local uni choir serenade him with a rewritten version of Chappell Roan’s Hot To Go!, he was also greeted by a mascot tribute to Long Boi, the (sadly, now-deceased) duck he’s been obsessed with for years.

A very tired Greg was overjoyed to see his best mate during a rest stop on day five.

…Let’s just say ice baths, sports massages and weird inflatable leg sleeping aids have all been involved.

If you’re one of the many people experiencing lower back or knee pain, “Spanish” and “goblet” squats can help you build leg muscle without added stress.

But strengthening your hips can go a long way towards reducing your risk of further pain, too.

It can help to stabilise your spine and even reduce strain on your knees.

And according to a paper published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, “clamshell” exercises are one of the best ways to strengthen the area and protect against future injury.

It involves lying on your side in the foetal position. Your knees should be bent at a 45-degree angle, and the sides of your feet should be touching.

Keep your knees stacked on top of each other, rather than rolling the top one over the bottom one. Rest your head on your lower arm.

From there, lift the knee that isn’t touching the ground into the air.

Keep your hips and core engaged and your spine straight.

Ben Shatto, a physical therapist, shared on his YouTube channel that “it needs to be a painfully slow exercise”.

He recommends lifting the knee for five seconds, holding it there for five further seconds, and then dropping the knee back for (you guessed it) five seconds.

Shatto recommended “at least 10 repetitions” on each side.

If you like, you can add a resistance band to the exercise by placing it around the front and back of your knees.

It helps to strengthen the “deep rotators of the hip,” Shatto said.

Clamshell exercises mostly target the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. These help to stabilise your body and maintain your posture.

The stronger these are, the more likely our knees are to remain aligned, taking extra pressure off existing sore knees and reducing the risk of harm in the future.

And speaking to Woman & Home, Paola Di Lanzo, a personal trainer, pilates instructor and founder of Paola’s Body Barre, said: “Clamshells support better pelvic alignment by activating deep glute muscles, which can alleviate tension in the lower back and hips.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned he has a “very bad feeling” about the consequences of the conflict in Iran could have on Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president pointed out that the global focus has shifted from Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attacks to the US-Israel war against Iran, even though Ukraine continues to be targeted by their Russian opponents.

“I have a very bad feeling about the impact of this war on the situation in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

“The focus of America is more on the Middle East than on Ukraine, unfortunately.

“That is why you see our diplomatic meetings, trilateral meetings, constantly being postponed. There is one reason – war in Iran.”

He added: “For [Vladimir] Putin, a long war in Iran is a plus. It means higher energy prices and depletion of US reserves. So we have a depletion of resources.”

He said 803 missiles were already used on the first day in the war – and America only produces around 800 missiles a year.

That trickles down to impact Ukraine’s supplies as Kyiv is reliant on weapons from America.

The Ukrainian premier said the US had previously proposed to hold the next round of talks in America, but Putin has opposed such negotiations.

“Ukraine will support any date and any place but definitely not in Russia,” he added.

Zelenskyy also touched on the fallout between Donald Trump and Keir Starmer over Iran, as the White House has raged over the UK’s reluctance to get involved with any offensive moves in the Middle East.

He said: “I can’t tell Trump what to do. Keir is a smart and very cool partner, absolutely.

“We know there are emotions in everyone in different ways. Keir, he’s in touch with president Trump. He can meet with him and reload that relationship with him again.

“It happens. I don’t see a great problem. To be honest, I don’t see a great challenge if your history is stronger than the emotions of two or three people.”

Just over a year ago, Zelenskyy had his own falling out with Trump, after the president accused him of not “having any cards” when it came to the Ukraine war.

The spectacular row saw Zelenskyy leave the Oval Office early during a formal visit.

The two leaders have since repaired their relationship, though Trump continues to falsely blame Ukraine for starting the war with Russia.