Labour is heading for “a total bloodbath” in the elections on May 7, according to a polling expert.

Voters will go to the polls in England, Scotland and Wales for the biggest test of public opinion since Keir Starmer won a landslide general election victory less than two years ago.

Since then, however, Labour and the prime minister’s popularity has plummeted following a series of gaffes, ministerial resignations, controversies and scandals.

Ben Walker, co-founder of polling analysts Britain Elects and a Labour councillor, said May 7 is shaping up to be disastrous for his party as well as the Conservatives.

In a post on X, he said: “Putting together the English local election forecast. Scotland and Wales done.

“I have to say, and not to give a sneak peak, but to affirm what’s been written elsewhere: this May is going to be absolutely terrible for the Tories. But a total bloodbath for Labour.”

Labour is facing defeat once again to the SNP in the Scottish Parliament elections, and could even come third behind Reform UK.

The party is also set to lose power in the Welsh Senedd for the first time since it was set up in 1999, with Plaid Cymru on course to form the next government.

Around 5,000 council seats are up for election on the same day, with analysis by the Financial Times last month suggesting Labour could lose nearly 2,000 as Reform and the Greens make major gains.

A by-election held on Thursday for a seat on Rossendale Borough Council provided a foretaste of what Labour can expect on May 7.

The party’s vote share plunged by nearly 28% as they lost the seat to the Greens.

Meanwhile, Reform polled 34.5% from a standing start, 15 points more than Labour.

The more I learn about the health benefits of walking, the more I understand why the NHS calls the exercise “overlooked”.

Walking as few as 2,337 steps a day can reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke, while a 1.6km stroll is linked to denser bones.

It can help your sleep, joints, and immune system, and may even lower your cravings for sweet foods. Walking for half an hour daily may add 1.4 years to women’s lives, and 2.5 to men’s.

But if you want to make a great thing even better for you, it turns out there are some simple changes – like bringing a friend on your walk, or taking a hilly route – that could be worth your while.

All walking is good for us. But in one study, brisk walking was linked to a 20% reduction in premature death compared to just 4% for slower walkers.

The NHS said that we should aim for a 4.8km/hour pace. Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, Dr Hussain Ahmad said brisk walking “means you’re walking fast enough to feel warmer and breathe a bit harder, but [are] still able to hold a conversation”.

“Incline walking,” or walking on a slope, seems to engage more muscles and raise heart rates higher than walking on a flat surface.

Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, GP Dr Suzanne Wylie said: “For many people, especially those who are new to exercise, carrying excess weight, managing joint pain or recovering from injury, incline walking can provide meaningful cardiovascular benefit and muscle engagement.”

Even downhill walking may benefit us, especially as we age.

Speaking to the University of Oxford, Dr Arran Davis said that fatigue is much more determined by how we feel than by the actual condition of our muscles.

Social support helps to reduce and delay that perceived fatigue, helping us to push ourselves for longer. The effect is so strong that even seeing a photo of a supportive friend makes us feel less tired.

10,000 steps a day is a marketing tool – scientists have since found that around 7,000 paces daily is enough to lower your risk of all-cause mortality by 47%.

But “Japanese walking,” a type of interval walking that involves walking for three minutes at a fast pace and then slowly for another three minutes until you reach a half-hour walking, may be one of the most beneficial ways to reach that goal.

A 2007 paper found that among middle-aged participants, people who followed that pattern enjoyed lower blood pressure, stronger thigh muscles, and better aerobic ability than those who walked 8,000 steps a day at a steady pace.

The NHS recommends getting 20-30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, like walking, a day.

A 2023 review found that “Meeting current physical activity guidelines by walking briskly for 30 min per day for 5 days can reduce the risk of several age-associated diseases”; in post-menopausal women, for instance, half an hour’s walk a day was linked to a 40% lower risk of hip fracture.

Of course, until about 9,800 steps a day – when health benefits max out – more walking is generally better. But the NHS points out that “a brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits,” and a recent study found that 4.5 minutes extra movement a day can reduce your heart attack risk.

Nigel Farage has wrongly claimed that a senior Reform UK official sacked for offensive comments about the Grenfell tragedy was only in his post for two weeks.

Simon Dudley was dumped by Farage as the party’s housing spokesman following a furious backlash to his remarks.

A major overhaul of building regulations took place after 72 people were killed in Grenfell Tower in west London in 2017.

But in an interview with trade publication Inside Housing, Dudley said the pendulum had “swung too far the wrong way”.

He said the Grenfell fire was a “tragedy” but added: “Sadly, you know, everyone dies in the end. It’s just how you go, right?”

Farage announced his sacking during a press conference on Thursday.

He said: “He’s no longer a spokesman for the party. That has been dealt with.”

In a bad-tempered interview afterwards with Sky News, Farage said: “He was appointed two weeks ago, he’s made these comments, he’s no longer there.”

But Reform actually announced Dudley had been handed the role on March 10.

In a press release, deputy leader Richard Tice said: “He understands planning, finance and regeneration. He knows how to get projects moving. That is exactly what we need. ”

Elsewhere in his Sky News interview, Farage tried to shift the blame for the row onto Tice.

He said: “I met [Dudley] once for two minutes, I don’t know the guy. Richard’s in charge of development, housing, economics. He thought he was the right person to put in place because of his considerable expertise in the area. That’s undoubted.

“But whether you’ve got expertise and media skills, where you’re not going to say something that trips yourself up, they’re different.”

Nearly 24 hours on from Farage announcing Dudley’s sacking, Tice has yet to publicly comment.

It’s amazing how much of everyday life I didn’t question for years – like what “wi-fi” really means, where we get paprika from, and what ASDA actually stands for.

And opening my fridge this afternoon, another banal mystery confronted me. What’s that squidgy black mat at the bottom of raspberry trays for, and why isn’t it in the bottom of my strawberry tray?

It seems I’m not alone. Posting to r/NoStupidQuestions, Redditor u/GrumpyOldSophon asked about the addition, wondering why you “never find this in packages of blueberries or strawberries”.

It probably won’t shock you to learn that the sheet is there to absorb some moisture. Packaging specialists Packaging World described these sheets as “dual ply absorbent” material, “applied to a totally absorbent, yet sealed, topcoat”.

They’re designed for softer fruits, like raspberries and blueberries, as these aren’t as hardy as, e.g., strawberries or grapes. Speaking to Eating Well, Robert Schueller, a produce expert at Melissa’s Produce, said: “A raspberry is one of the most delicate fruits out there, so they have to be packaged very carefully”.

They provide some cushioning for the delicate fruits as they’re transported, too. And because they wick away moisture, they can help to prevent mould.

It makes sense for it to be black or red as it’s designed to catch berry juices, which would otherwise stain it.

Though there may be another, unexpected benefit here: pitching their black cartonboard packaging for strawberries, MM Karton said: “The contrast of black cartonboard and red strawberries is a real eye-catcher at the point of sale”.

Perhaps the red berry/black sheet colour combo makes our raspberries look more inviting, too.

I have enjoyed many a mega-size box of strawberries this year.

But it turns out retailers aren’t being stingy for limiting their raspberry carton sizes; the berries are too delicate to be stacked on top of each other, unlike strawberries and even blueberries.

And, Schueller added, “you need to allow space for air in each package, too”.

A senior United Nations officials has warned Donald Trump that targeting key civilian infrastructure in Iran would be “war crimes”.

The US president said bridges and power plants could be destroyed unless the regime in Tehran agrees a peace deal to end the conflict.

His comments, in a post on Truth Social, came nearly five weeks after the war began with a wave of Israeli and US strikes.

Trump said: “Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants! New Regime leadership knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”

But speaking on Radio 4′s Today programme, Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said that would be a clear violation of international law.

He said: “This is infuriating. We’re dealing with the intended and unintended consequences of this reckless conflict, and I think what everyone is observing now is that war is not a television game show.

“Peacemaking is not a real estate deal and the world is not a casino and these actions have real consequences.”

Fletcher added: “This has been a gradual and then very sudden deterioration in the way that we talk about protection of civilians, the way that we talk about international humanitarian law.

“This stuff isn’t negotiable. You don’t hit civilian infrastructure.

“You don’t hit schools, you don’t hit energy sources, you don’t hit bridges. Those are war crimes. That is absolutely clear in international law.

“But somewhere along the way we seem to have thrown that all aside and we’ve chosen impunity, indifference, game show gambling over solidarity and humanity.”

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.

Some experts advise against cutting hedges between March and September, as that’s when birds are busy building their nests and raising their chicks.

But Andy Simms from MyBuilder.com, which is running a Help the Hedgehogs campaign, pointed out that we need to look out for other little critters too.

“The winter season is well and truly over, so, understandably, millions of Brits will be starting to think of garden tasks they can complete now ahead of summer. But it’s not just us that might be outside, hedgehogs may be, too, and they’re not always easy to spot,” he said.

“There are signs to watch out for, such as small, black droppings, tiny hand-like footprints in mud, and loud grunting noises, particularly at night. If you notice any of these, you may have one of these small creatures in your garden,” Simms shared.

Hedgehog poop is typically 1-1.5cm long and often has shiny insect remains in it.

Hedgehog Street has a postcode tool that can tell you if people have reported hedgehogs near you, too (hedgehogs can travel further than you think at night).

You should always check these signs before beginning any gardening task, be it mowing, pruning, or planting, Simms added.

And don’t forget to look in any garden drains from time to time, as hedgehogs can fall in these and get stuck.

Sadly, these measures are necessary as hedgehog numbers have fallen by 30% in urban areas and 50% in rural ones since 2000.

“If you would like to help protect hedgehogs, there are jobs you can do, such as leaving some areas in your garden wild… or even building a hedgehog home,” Simms said.

Collecting nesting materials like logs and leaves, providing clean drinking water, and avoiding the use of slug pellets can all help, DEFRA shared on the government’s site.

Keir Starmer loves the European Union. It is not controversial to point this out.

Few, if any, MPs did more to overturn the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum than the member for Holborn and St. Pancras.

As Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, Starmer led the charge – often against intense resistance from his own party colleagues – for a second referendum, and made no secret of the fact he would campaign to stay in the EU if it ever happened.

In the end, Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to support Boris Johnson’s call for a snap election in 2019 put paid to Starmer’s dream.

Johnson won a landslide victory and took the UK out of the bloc on January 31, 2020.

This neatly coincided with the Labour leadership contest, which Starmer won with a promise to “defend free movement as we leave the EU”.

That pledge, alongside the other nine he made during that campaign, were all quickly ditched once he was in post.

Indeed, the return of free movement remains a “red line” the government says it will not cross, alongside a return to the EU’s single market and customs union.

These positions were seen as a tactical necessity ahead of the 2024 election, for fear of angering the millions of previously-Labour voters who backed Brexit in 2016 and then Johnson’s Tories three years later.

Nevertheless, the prime minister and other senior government figures now feel emboldened enough to criticise Brexit and openly talk about seeking closer ties with the EU.

On Wednesday, Starmer was unequivocal.

Brexit “did deep damage to our economy”, the PM said, adding that the economic turmoil caused by the Iran war meant “the opportunities to strengthen our security and cut the cost of living…. are simply too big to ignore”.