We’ve written before about how everything from a paintbrush to a pot full of water can help you look after your garden.

And now, it seems a cup of chamomile tea may help those with seedlings and young plants.

It can save them from “damping off”, a wilting process which involves fungal pathogens like Pythium and Rhizoctonia. These can sometimes take out an entire tray of young plants in a matter of hours.

Chamomile oil has been found to have properties that could help to ward off unwanted fungi. And another paper found that the plant’s tea is antifungal too.

Per Gardening Know How, those benefits may help to keep damping off at bay.

That’s because, they explain, the drink is high in tannins and compounds like apigenin and chamazulene.

These contribute to the beverage’s potential fungus-fighting power. And they mimic the same fungicidal process sulphur achieves in plants, but more gently, and in a way that’s delivered straight to the plant’s roots.

Additionally, the tannins could provide a slightly more stressful environment than usual for new spores without affecting your seedling’s growth.

A word of caution, though. The strongest evidence-based results have come from chamomile oil, and not its weaker, harder-to-titrate tea counterpart.

Gardening company Vego Garden shared in a TikTok video that you should take the following steps:

1. Brew some chamomile tea and let it cool,
2. Pour it into a spray bottle, and
3. Spray the mixture over your seedlings to help protect them.

If you like, you can add some cinnamon to the mix, which may be helpful because it contains cinnamaldehyde.

This is another natural antifungal agent, though it might not be as suitable for very young plants, as it’s a little stronger than chamomile.

Keir Starmer knows his premiership is in danger.

Pollsters have been charting his decline in popularity over the last 22 months, with divisive policies – such as scrapping the winter fuel payments – and a mounting pile of U-turns, setting voters against Labour.

And that’s before the scandal surrounding Starmer’s decision to make Peter Mandelson – friend of the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – the UK’s ambassador to the US dominated the national conversation.

Thursday marks the first major test of public opinion towards the government since its landslide victory in July 2024.

It’s also the biggest threat Starmer’s faced since winning the Labour leadership in 2020.

With almost 5,000 councils in England up for re-election, along with the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, the political scene in the UK could be turned upside-down over just a few days.

The results are expected to be brutal for Labour.

The party is on course to lose control of the Senedd altogether after more than a century of dominance in Wales.

Some forecasts suggest Labour could lose 1,860 councillors in England too, while also failing to make any breakthrough in Scotland against the SNP.

All eyes are on Labour MPs to see if they will choose to oust the prime minister in response to the anticipated upheaval.

The party’s rules state any challenger within the Commons needs the support of 20% (81) of all Labour MPs to successfully topple the leader.

This would trigger a leadership contest and Starmer’s name would automatically on the ballot paper.

The party has struggled to unite over regicide in the past, and failed to oust Jeremy Corbyn, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Some MPs fear chopping and changing No.10′s occupant would not help improve the party’s popularity, especially when most of the public want assistance with the cost of living, not another leadership race.

However, allies of Starmer’s rivals have been briefing journalists for weeks about their plans.

Friends of health secretary Wes Streeting claim he has the support of enough MPs to pose a clear challenge to Starmer – despite speculation about how popular he really is within the party.

Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner also appears to be on manoeuvres, and allegedly has the backing of various trade unions – though she is still haunted by the tax affair which saw her quit government last year.

Andy Burnham, currently the Greater Manchester mayor, is not an MP and so would need to be elected into parliament before he could pose a serious leadership challenge.

But reports suggest he has a plan up his sleeve to be parachuted into a safe seat, with some Labour MPs supposedly willing to step aside for him.

The prime minister is not willing to go quietly, though.

Senior government figures have told HuffPost UK that Downing Street is assembling a top team to save Starmer’s job in anticipation of a challenge in the days after the May elections.

Could the summer end up being a bloody Labour civil war?

Listen to this week’s Commons People as we unpick the trouble ahead for Starmer – and what party insiders are really thinking about Labour’s future.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Amidst what can sometimes feel like a barrage of exercise advice, the NHS says that the benefits of a simple walk often go “overlooked”.

The movement, after all, is linked to better heart, brain, and mental health.

And, some posit, “Nordic walking” may be even better for you than the “regular” kind.

It’s been associated with higher calorie expenditure and less joint pain than going for a normal stroll, while some research suggests it may even ease chronic fatigue.

Here, we spoke to Dr Giuseppe Aragona, GP and medical adviser for Prescription Doctor, about why “Nordic walking” seems to be so good for us – and how it stacks up against the oft-repeated 10,000 steps rule.

Nordic walking involves using two poles to propel yourself as you walk. It was first popularised in the ’90s by skiers, hoping to build their strength off-season.

Because it involves the use of your torso and arms, it engages more of your muscles (up to 90% vs regular walking’s 50-ish %, Harvard Health said).

“In many ways,” Dr Aragona told HuffPost UK, “it offers advantages over simply aiming for 10,000 steps a day”, provided you move enough to meet fitness recommendations.

After all, she explained, the figure “was never based on robust medical evidence; rather, it emerged as a marketing concept in the 1960s.

“What we now know is that meaningful health benefits can be achieved with far fewer steps, and that the quality and intensity of movement matter just as much as the number of steps taken.”

Nordic walking may be a more vigorous activity, the GP continued, because it gets more of your body moving.

“Studies suggest it can increase energy expenditure by around 20% compared with ordinary walking at the same speed, so people often achieve a moderate-intensity workout more quickly,” she stated.

“For most adults, around 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week is the recommended target, and Nordic walking is an excellent way to meet that… Nordic walking can make each step ‘count’ a little more towards cardiovascular fitness.”

Dr Aragona explained that the technique is an excellent choice for those suffering from joint pain, “including those with mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis”.

That’s because “The poles act almost like a support system, distributing some of the body weight through the arms and reducing the load going through the hips, knees, and ankles. This can make walking more comfortable and allow people to walk further or more confidently than they might otherwise manage.”

Additionally, Nordic walking encourages better posture and a longer stride – both of which the GP says can reduce stiffness.

And the added stability and balance the poles offer “can reduce the fear of falling and allow [people] to remain active, important for joint health in the long run”.

The sport, which is often associated with older people, can “be an excellent full-body workout for any age group,” as “It strengthens the core, improves coordination, and provides a cardiovascular boost without the higher impact of running,” Dr Aragona shared.

“Younger adults who find walking ‘too easy’ often enjoy the increased challenge and pace they can achieve with poles,” she ended.

“It can also be ideal for people recovering from injury, those who want a low-impact form of cross-training, or anyone looking for an outdoor activity that improves fitness and strength simultaneously.”

Expert comment provided by horticultural expert Jack Stooks, former Head Gardener to King Charles at Highgrove House Garden, who’s currently working with Savoo.

It can feel pretty counterintuitive to spend months – even years – perfecting your rosebush, only to lop its branches off.

Even Monty Don admits that pruning can cause “some anxiety”. It can be hard to feel sure you’re cutting at the right time, in the right place, on the right plant, to prevent unwanted dieback.

Thankfully Jack Stooks, former gardener to King Charles, has shared his ultimate pruning tips with us.

“By cutting things down, you’re always trying to encourage growth to come from the very base of the plant,” he explained.

“Doing that keeps the plant healthy because you’re using plant material that’s new year after year, rather than holding on to old dead wood that’s hard and doesn’t properly flower.”

“With pruning, we always go with diseased, damaged and dying,” Stooks told us.

“If you’re going to prune a rose, for instance, you’ll inspect the rose and see what’s dead. If there are any branches that are dead within it, cut those out.”

And if any parts are diseased, you can cut them off. Once that’s gone, you can see what needs more work.

“Generally speaking, most plants you would take off about one quarter maximum, but you could probably take off a third of the growth. With roses, you can take away more.”

You might also want to remove crossover or weaker branches. “You want to have really sharp secateurs or a really nice sharp saw to use for the bigger branches,” Stooks said.

Once the pruning’s done, fertilise and feed the plants.

“You can dig the manure in, or use some blood, fish and bone for the plant, or get fertilisers. It’s good practice to prune everything, then feed the plants afterwards to maintain good growth.”

Generally, Stooks said, you want to do the job before spring and after winter.

“You can start pruning things from December into the early months of the year… you don’t want to be pruning when things are trying to grow.”

For example, pruning forsythia in summer will mean it simply won’t flower, he explained.

It’s also illegal to deliberately harm a bird’s nest in the UK, which is why some experts advise against cutting back hedges from March to September.

“There are some plants that are good for a late winter prune, like wisteria. You can also do a late summer prune, like with an apple tree,” Stooks added.

“Once the apples have finished on the branches, you can pick them and do a prune of the plant, which can be done in the late summer, but in the later winter, I’d give them a better prune.”

Ornamental pruning can also “be done during the growing season”.

Stooks said he always prunes plants at different levels (e.g. not to one solid length).

“Some people will get a trimmer and they’ll go into their garden and shape their shrubs. They can shape it into a ball shape and leave it at that. You very often see gardens where the shrubs look like they’re trying to grow but aren’t given the opportunity.

“I don’t necessarily agree with this method, as I do think a natural look always looks better,” he said.

Instead, he recommends a more freehand approach, with “secateurs or a little saw, or loppers if you need, and try and open the shrub up a little bit… That’s the best way of pruning because you’re getting air and light into the plant”.

“You can usually tell by the growth that a plant has put on, so it is worth inspecting it,” Stooks told us.

“With roses, you can sometimes tell by the height of the plant. You might buy some roses, then they end up growing to around five feet… That’s the same for any shrub.

“You might have had a beautiful view of a field from your garden, but then three shrubs have taken over and are way too big for that space, so taking control of that would be the way forward.”

Presenter and journalist Anna Whitehouse has opened up about a little-known phenomenon that helped offer some comfort after experiencing multiple miscarriages.

During an appearance on the CBeebies Parenting Helpline podcast, Anna (known as Mother Pukka on social media) said she was “woefully” unprepared for losing a baby, as it’s not something touched upon in school or spoken about in society.

Sadly, she ended up experiencing five miscarriages. In the UK, when a person has three or more miscarriages, it’s known as “recurrent miscarriage”, which affects around one in every 100 couples trying for a baby.

Candidly sharing her experience, Anna described how learning about microchimerism “changed everything” for her after experiencing such devastating loss.

When a baby is in the womb, cells travel into the parent’s body through the placenta, according to Vox. While lots of cells get targeted and destroyed by the parent’s immune system, others will travel around the body – making a beeline for various organs: the heart, lungs, brain.

There, they’ll enmesh themselves in the tissue and become one with the body. This exchange is known as microchimerism.

Some studies have found these cells have been present years after conception – in 1996, a geneticist discovered male foetal cells in a mother’s blood 27 years after giving birth, according to Scientific American. In some cases, the cells can even pass on and live within future siblings.

The exchange of cells can start as early as the first few weeks of pregnancy, according to biotechnology company Ariel Precision Medicine – and it’s been shown to happen in other mammals too.

It’s not entirely clear what these cells are doing in the body, however some studies suggest they could have healing properties – the cells have even been found in healed C-section scars.

Some studies suggest the presence of such cells could explain why women who’ve been pregnant have a lowered breast cancer risk. Others, however, note the cells could play a role in autoimmune diseases – however the jury’s out for now.

Anna, who has three daughters, acknowledged that those “little lives that have been lost” are “not away, abandoned; they’re there, they’re a part of you”.

She added that “knowing that my babies are a part of me on a cellular level” has “healed something in me”.

She’s not alone in finding comfort in this knowledge. In 2023, former Hear’Say singer Myleene Klass – who has previously spoken about experiencing four miscarriages – shared a video explaining the process of microchimerism and why it’s so important for mothers who’ve lost babies.

“Whilst there’s no little one to physically hold, knowing they’re quite literally in your heart and mind changes everything,” she wrote in a touching Instagram post.

“It’s hard sometimes, believing your body let them down, but there’s comfort in knowing it’s your body where they now reside.”

CBeebies Parenting Helpline is available on BBC Sounds and all other platforms.

• Sands works to support anyone affected by the death of a baby.
• Tommy’s fund research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, and provide pregnancy health information to parents.
• Saying Goodbye offers support for anyone who has suffered the loss of a baby during pregnancy, at birth or in infancy.

Today, Thursday 07 May 2026, will see voters across the country flock to the ballot box.

In England, voters will have their say in close to 5,000 seats across 136 councils.

Parliamentary elections are also taking place in Scotland and Wales, though there will be no elections in Northern Ireland until May 2027.

Here’s some crucial facts you need to know about the polls today – including some dos and don’ts.

The polls have been open since 7am and will close at 10pm tonight, Thursday 7 May.

You will be able to cast your vote after 10pm if you were in the queue to vote before that point.

You can get an emergency proxy vote if you are unable to make it to the polls today due to urgent circumstances you couldn’t have foreseen by the regular proxy vote deadline (usually six days before the polls open).

Emergency proxy applications close at 5pm on 7 May.

That means you can get another person you trust to vote for you in person.

Some reasons to get an emergency proxy vote include:

• A medical emergency,
• Being away for work,
• Lost, stolen, or damaged ID that became missing or got damaged after the deadline to get a Voter Authority Certificate passed. This applies to polls that require ID,
• Acting as a medical companion to someone receiving medical care (Scottish Parliament elections only),
• Needing to change your existing proxy (Scottish Parliament and council elections only),
• Being detained in a mental health institution in relation to criminal proceedings (Scottish Parliament and local council elections only).

If you think you may qualify for an emergency proxy vote, the Electoral Commission said you should contact your local electoral registration office in Scotland or the electoral services team at your local council in England or Wales.

They offer PDFs for various circumstances on their site.

Firstly, you do have to be registered to vote. The deadline to sign up for these elections has passed, but if you’re not sure whether you can vote or not, you can check here.

If you are registered to vote, you should have been sent a polling card. You don’t have to bring this with you, though the BBC said this can speed things up.

You can only vote in your local polling station, which you can find here. However, voters in four parts of England – Cambridge, North Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes, and Tunbridge Wells – will be able to vote in other places as part of a pilot which hopes to make voting easier.

You don’t have to use a photo ID when voting in person for the Scottish Parliament or Senedd, but you do when voting in person in the English local elections.

Acceptable forms of photo ID include:

• A passport,
• A driver’s licence,
• A Blue Badge,
• An identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram,
• Older or Disabled Person’s bus passes,
• A 60+ Oyster card,
• Armed Forces Veteran Cards.

“You only need to show one form of photo ID. It needs to be the original version, not a photocopy,” The Electoral Commission said. They added that you can still use your photo ID if it’s out of date, so long as it looks like you. The address on your ID does not have to match your current address.

You’re encouraged not to take a picture inside the polling station. This could risk the secrecy of your vote and that of other people.

In fact, if you reveal how someone else voted, even by accident, you risk a £5,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

You can usually take a picture outside the polling station, though.

You also cannot discuss politics inside a voting station.

Do you feel secure about your pension?

A 2025 survey by the Financial Conduct Authority found that a third of people have less than £10,000 saved in their plans, which has been described as “worrying”.

And in a recent pension special of the Martin Lewis Money Show, the expert said he has a “rule of thumb” that “scares the pants off everybody.”

A viewer asked, “Whilst I want to put more into my pension, I don’t want it to affect my quality of life in the here and now. Is doing 15% contributions as someone in [their] mid-30s enough?”

Lewis replied that the viewer was doing “really well” with that percentage.

Then, he added, “Let me give you the rule of thumb that scares the pants off everybody.

“Take the age when you start putting into your pension, so in your case, we’ll say 30.

“Halve it, that’s 15 [percent contribution]. That’s how much of your income you want going in for the rest of your life for a decent retirement. Very few people ever get there.”

The “real reason” for the advice, he continued, is to illustrate that “the earlier you start, the better… retirement… you’re going to have”.

Of course, he explained, this is in tandem with your State Pension.

The Government has a State Pension Forecast, which will tell you how much you may be entitled to from the government when you reach retirement age.

You can also check what your private pension may be worth when you retire.

These combined figures should tell you roughly what you can expect to bring in a year once you get your pension.

Legal & General said, “The happiest retirees have an average total monthly income of £1,700”.

Following the huge success of its inaugural run, Saturday Night Live UK is getting a second season.

With two weeks still to go on the first outing of SNL UK, Sky announced on Thursday morning that the sketch comedy series will be returning to our screens later this year.

Season two will run from September 2026 until early 2027, for an extended run of 12 episodes, compared to the current iteration’s eight.

Lorne Michaels – the creator of SNL, who is also an executive producer of its UK run – enthused: “I’m incredibly proud of our team and the show. It keeps getting better every week.

“I’m grateful to [Sky CEO] Dana Strong and Sky for believing in and supporting SNL UK. I’m excited for the season ahead.”

SNL UK premiered in March, having had its planned length boosted from six to eight episodes before the first instalment aired.

Despite some initial scepticism in the British media when the project was first announced, SNL UK was met with glowing reviews and promising viewing figures upon its debut.

Ratings have dipped somewhat over the course of SNL UK’s run so far, although its original sketches have continued to perform well on social media, with two of last week’s offerings already among the show’s most-viewed on YouTube.

This coming weekend, Hannah Waddingham is set to serve as SNL UK’s guest presenter for the penultimate instalment of season one.

A week later, Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa will take on hosting duties at the finale, with Myles Smith and Holly Humberstone as their respective musical guests.

SNL favourite Tina Fey fronted the launch episode of the UK edition, and in the weeks since, it’s been presented by Jamie Dornan, Riz Ahmed, Jack Whitehall, Nicola Coughlan and Aimee Lou Wood.

SNL UK continues on Saturday night at 10pm on Sky and Now