Politics
Noel Gallagher’s Special Brit Award Win Raises Eyebrows For 1 Reason
The news that Noel Gallagher is to receive a special award at this year’s Brits has left some music fans with questions.
On Wednesday night, the Brit Awards announced that during the 2026 ceremony, which is due to take place in Noel’s hometown of Manchester later this month, the Oasis singer will be picking up the Songwriter Of The Year Award, which has previously been given to the likes of Raye, Charli XCX and Ed Sheeran.
Now, there’s no denying that Oasis had an absolutely epic year in 2025, with their sold-out reunion tour leading to a chart resurgence that at one point meant three of the band’s albums were all back in the UK top five at the same time.
As the primary songwriter in Oasis, he also penned hits like Live Forever, Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova, and has gone on to enjoy success with his group Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
However, it still hasn’t escaped some people’s attention that Noel’s Songwriter Of The Year award comes at the end of a year in which he… well… hasn’t actually shared any new material…
That being said, others were still thrilled to hear about Noel’s latest accolade…
It’s also been pointed out that in 2013, Noel claimed he would not be attending the Brit Awards again unless he were to be recognised with an award for his songwriting.
Brit Awards committee chair Stacey Tang enthused: “For more than three decades, Noel has crafted songs that have become part of our collective story – bold, brilliant, and always recognisable.
“His songs have soundtracked memories for multiple generations and defined the spirit of British music globally. Honouring Noel as Songwriter Of The Year celebrates a remarkable body of work and a creative force that continues to connect and inspire artists and fans worldwide.”
Meanwhile, Mark Ronson is also set to receive the Outstanding Contribution prize at the upcoming Brits, where Jacob Alon will be awarded the Critics’ Choice title.
Jeremy Corbyn has demanded a focus on the victims of Jeffrey Epstein as the scandal surrounding Peter Mandelson grows. Speaking from the Central Lobby on 5 February, Corbyn called for the US authorities to interview Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Victims of Epstein’s vile network will be scarred forever by the horrific abuse they suffered. It is them we should be thinking about.
pic.twitter.com/EBgrCCUJnC— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) February 5, 2026
Corbyn makes plea
Corbyn rightly emphasised that the political activity around the latest Epstein File releases should not overshadow the woman and girls involved in these sex trafficking rings. Pointing out the tragic case of Virginia Giuffre who sadly died by suicide in April 2025, he continued:
Others are in a desperate situation. They will be scarred forever by the experience of the behaviour of Jeffrey Epstein. It is the victims we should be thinking about.
Corbyn’s suggestion that both Mandelson and Mountbatten-Windsor would only be questioned under voluntary circumstances is worrying. These two perverted predators should be in fucking prison, not being politely asked to consider facing justice.
Unaccountable
These remarks are absolutely right. It’s the women and girls who have had their lives ruined who should be at the forefront of these investigations.
As Maddison Wheeldon wrote for the Canary:
It is time we empathise and choose to empower women and girls, not continue this toxic cycle of even the reveal of abuse not centring the abused.
Featured image via Sky News
And speaking to HuffPost UK, relationship therapist and author at Passionerad, Sofie Roos, said there are “a few types of phrases that almost always do more harm than good in a relationship,” too.
“Many of these aren’t mainly about what you say, but about when you use them, and how they shut down a conversation or augment in a way that blames your partner and leaves them feeling that their version [of events] doesn’t matter,” she added.
Here, she shared five hurtful comments she thinks we should avoid using with our partner.
1) “You always…” or “you never…”
One of the Gottman Institute’s four horsemen of divorce is criticism, especially ad hominem critiques, which turn issues with your partner into comments about their person.
Phrases like “you always [do xyz]” can tie “one personal trait to [your partner’s] whole identity… with no nuance,” said Roos.
When comments like these are “thrown in your face, the reaction is often to go into defence mode, and the situation tends to escalate into a dirty fight.”
2) “Boo-hoo, poor you…” or “You’re so dramatic”
Dismissive, sarcastic, and diminishing statements, which suggest your partner is overreacting, are a no-go, said Roos.
They “signal that [your] partner’s feelings aren’t valid and not to be taken as equal to yours, which in the long run makes… their opinion and voice less valued.
“That’s no way to build a healthy, happy and respectful relationship.”
3) “If you really loved me…” or “I thought I meant more to you than that…”
These “manipulative” terms are unfair, Roos told us.
“Using these makes you push your partner into a certain behaviour, and you make them earn your love, which is extremely unfair, harsh and manipulative.”
It also “makes them very tense and afraid of doing wrong, where they feel their love isn’t enough.”
4) “Other couples don’t have this problem” or “My ex never did this”
Comparing your relationship to another couple’s, or even your own ex, should be avoided as much as possible.
It “makes your partner compete with others instead of making you a team against the world, which leads to feelings of not being good enough,” the therapist said.
5) “I don’t care, you do you,” or “I don’t want to tell you what you should do, you know best”
These can be tricky, Roos said, because at first glance, they can have the veneer of consideration.
But often, she said, they’re “actually loaded with anger and bitterness, which leads to a very tense atmosphere between you”. They can force your partner to do the hard work of noticing, bringing up, and “managing” problems you don’t want the effort of addressing.
Instead of this, try to “clear the air by saying what you really think”, and assume responsibility in your relationship by taking a position rather than leaving all the work to your partner.
Overall, Roos said, “Phrases that make your partner feel shamed, diminished, less worthy or manipulated have no room in a healthy relationship. Instead, say what you have on your mind and how you’re feeling, but in a respectful, nuanced, constructive and solution-oriented way that’s not aggressive or confronting.
“That will lead to a more peaceful, stable and happy relationship where both feel needed, seen and equal.”
Kemi Badenoch is delivering a ‘landmark’ press conference as Starmer faces questions over why he appointed Mandelson as ambassador. Push what’s falling…
William Prescott is a researcher at Bright Blue.
Last week, the National Party Leader, David Littleproud, announced he was withdrawing his Party from its longstanding coalition with Australia’s main centre-right party, the Liberals, for the second time since last year’s disastrous election loss. With the Australian centre-right parties now divided and losing ground and under siege from both their left and right, the only winner is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party.
Since its unexpectedly large defeat at last May’s federal election, the Coalition has struggled to overcome the centre-right’s deep structural problems. Reduced to just 43 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives, the Coalition parties were all but wiped out in the major cities that most Australians call home. However, it held on more strongly in rural areas, with the more conservative, country-based National Party holding onto all of its 15 lower-house seats.
The increased relative strength of the National Party, which suddenly found itself holding more than a third of the Coalition’s total 43 seats, compared to just over a quarter after the 2022 election, immediately made itself felt. Amidst fears that the Liberals would shift to the left to win back former heartland inner-city seats, the Nationals announced in late May 2025 that they would not renew the Coalition agreement.
While the blowback was considerable, and the Nationals returned to the Coalition just over a week later, the underlying tensions remained. Ultimately, at least on the climate issue, the Nationals got their way in November last year, when Liberal Leader Sussan Ley officially ditched her Party’s 2050 net zero target.
More recently, the Nationals’ intransigence arises from a fear that their vote share is being increasingly cannibalised by Pauline Hanson’s right-populist One Nation party. An on-and-off-again feature of the Australian political landscape, Hanson’s core platform, which has barely changed since her political emergence in the mid-1990s, centres around drastically reducing immigration and a hostility to multiculturalism.
Concerningly, from a centre-right perspective, One Nation has surpassed the now-dissolved Coalition in opinion polls. According to a January 2026 Newspoll — generally considered the most trustworthy Australian pollster — One Nation’s vote share stood at 22 per cent, just ahead of the Coalition’s lamentable 21 per cent. This is up from just 6.4 per cent of the vote at last year’s election.
Especially worryingly for the Nationals, the evidence suggests that One Nation’s support is most concentrated in the same regional and rural areas that are home to many of the Coalition’s surviving MPs and Senators. Reflecting Hanson’s potential appeal to disaffected rural voters, the maverick former Nationals Leader, Barnaby Joyce — deposed by Littleproud in May 2022 — defected to One Nation in December last year out of frustration at not being reappointed to the frontbench.
Matters came to a head on Thursday last week, when, following a row over post-Bondi hate speech laws, Littleproud declared the Coalition was “untenable” so long as Ley, who has been in post since replacing Peter Dutton after last year’s election loss, remains Liberal Leader. Although the immediate crisis is not of her making, it looks set prove the final straw for Ley, who now faces an imminent leadership challenge amid poll ratings that have been dismal for some time.
Unfortunately, there is no easy road back for the embattled former Coalition parties. While pivoting to the right on immigration, cultural, and climate issues may, in the short term, help to reunite the Coalition and reclaim ground from One Nation, it will do nothing to help regain the more socially liberal urban seats it needs to unseat Labor, and which it has been losing for some time.
Between the 2019 and 2022 elections, for example, the Liberals lost seven of their former heartland seats to the socially and economically liberal ‘teal’ independents. Among the seats lost were those held by former Prime Ministers Sir Robert Menzies and Tony Abbott, as well as former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. The only Liberal who managed to recover a teal seat at the last election was the moderate and openly gay Tim Wilson.
Amidst this centre-right infighting, the only true victor is Albanese. Despite a modest legislative record since taking office in 2022, a humiliating constitutional referendum defeat, an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and, most recently, a bungled response to the Bondi beach shootings, the absence of a viable opponent means he continues to enjoy a dominant electoral position. While, according to the latest Newspoll, Labor’s primary vote sits at a lacklustre 32 per cent, it now leads the two-party preferred vote 55 per cent to 45 per cent — Australia’s compulsory preferential voting system means this is the more significant gauge of political fortunes. Indeed, at the last election, it secured a landslide election victory with just 34.6 per cent of the primary vote.
While Ley’s likely imminent overthrow may well pave the way for the Coalition’s restoration, it won’t solve the centre-right’s identity crisis. Pivoting to the right may put Liberal-National tensions on ice, but it will make it virtually impossible to win back the cities and, by extension, government. Pivoting to the centre, however, may help to regain the cities but risks entrenching the Liberal-National divide. Until the centre-right can unite around a compelling vision that appeals to both town and country, The Lodge will remain Albanese’s for the keeping.
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Vladimir Putin’s aide has dismissed claims that Jeffrey Epstein was a Russian spy.
Documents released by US Congress at the weekend unveiled the late paedophile’s extensive network with the global elite.
The files have raised suspicions he was passing on intelligence to Moscow, although there is no concrete proof.
On Tuesday, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said: “A growing number of commentators and experts assume that it is highly probable that this [Epstein scandal] was a premeditated operation by the Russian KGB.
“This so-called ‘honey trap’ set for the elites of the Western world, primarily the US.”
Tusk offered no evidence to support his claim, but suggested the “unprecedented paedophilia scandal was co-organised by Russian intelligence services” to hurt Warsaw.
“This can only mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today,” he said.
Tusk announced that his government would launch an investigation into what it believes were potential connections between Epstein and Russia’s intelligence services – and the possible knock-on consequences for Poland.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed that theory though, saying: “I would like to joke about such versions, but let’s not waste our time.”
“The theory that Epstein was controlled by Russian intelligence services can be taken in any way, but not seriously,” he added.
Russia is mentioned almost 10,000 times in the three million documents released by the US Department of Justice while Putin is mentioned more than 1,000 times.
The files suggest Epstein was in contact with some young women from Russia and may have tried to introduce a 26-year-old Russian woman to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince.
Writing in an email to “the Duke” two years after his conviction for soliciting an underage girl for sex, Epstein said: “I have a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with, her name is irina she will be london 20-24.”
There is no evidence to suggest Epstein met Putin in person, though his emails suggest repeated attempts were made.
One such encounter in 2014 was cancelled after 298 people were killed when Russian forces shot down flight MH17 over Ukraine.
Epstein also alleged that Bill Gates sought treatment for a sexually transmitted disease caught from “sex with Russian girls”. The Microsoft founder denies these claims.
Former head of MI6′s Russia desk Christopher Steele told Times Radio it was “very likely” Epstein was sending secrets to Russia in exchange for payment.
He said: “My understanding from my American sources is that as early as the 1970s, Epstein was effectively involved with Russian organised crime in Brighton Beach in New York and through them with the Russian mission in New York and was almost certainly recruited by them at that time.”
He added: “Possibly, the majority of his investment funds, which seem to never have been explained, actually came from the Soviet Union.”
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Goodwin, who is standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election, said: “My view is Englishness is an ethnicity that is deep deeply rooted in a people that can trace their roots back over generations. It is a very distinctive identity and a different identity from Britishness.
“So I think somebody could identify as British and they can be British but they cannot simultaneously identify as English.”
In a speech on Thursday, Starmer hit out those who he said are “selling the lie that people who look different cannot really live together”.
The PM said: “You see it in politicians like the Reform candidate in Gorton and Denton, who look at people like Rishi Sunak, Shabana Mahmood and presumably Marcus Rashford, Shirley Bassey, Anas Sarwar, and say they can’t really be English or Welsh or Scottish because they are not white.”
Starmer said that was “an affront to British values as I see it”.
“And I tell you, as long as I’ve got breath in my body I will always fight against that politics,” he said.
Reform UK have been contacted for comment.
Politics
Politics Home | Advertising Association publishes best practice guide for the responsible use of generative AI in advertising
New guide developed under the Government’s Online Advertising Taskforce provides practical recommendations for advertising practitioners
London, 5 February 2026: The Advertising Association has today published a new Best Practice Guide for the Responsible Use of Generative AI in Advertising, developed under the auspices of the Government and Industry-led Online Advertising Taskforce.
The voluntary guide provides UK advertising practitioners with practical recommendations for deploying Generative AI (GenAI) responsibly, helping organisations navigate AI’s opportunities while mitigating potential risks. It has been developed collaboratively by an expert working group, which includes industry leaders and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), building on and operationalising the ISBA/IPA Principles for the use of generative AI in advertising published in 2023.
The guide focuses on eight principles for responsible use and translates them into clear, actionable steps. This enables advertisers, agencies and media owners to harness AI’s transformative potential while safeguarding consumer trust, ethical standards and innovation.
The principles cover transparency, data use, fairness, human oversight, harm prevention, brand safety, environmental considerations and continuous monitoring. Together, they provide a flexible framework for AI governance that complements existing UK laws, including UK GDPR and the Equality Act, and aligns with the codes underpinning the ASA’s co- and self-regulatory system.
Alongside the full guide, a SME version has also been published. This takes a more proportionate approach, focusing on the principles most relevant to small businesses to help make implementation easier.
Rt Hon Ian Murray MP, Minister for the Creative Industries, said: “I am pleased to see the publication of this timely industry-led guide, which is a key output of the Online Advertising Taskforce’s AI Working Group. This work supports the Government’s ambitions to ensure advertising remains trusted and makes the most of the opportunities AI can offer, helping the sector innovate responsibly.”
Stephen Woodford, CEO, Advertising Association, said: “This new guide is designed to support responsible adoption of AI in advertising to ensure that the work of our industry can continue to be trusted by the public. In the words of the ASA, all advertising must be ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’ and it must remain so as our industry embraces AI and the many benefits it can bring. I want to thank our industry experts who contributed to this guide. I encourage advertising practitioners to adopt and apply the principles in this guide, and to input into future iterations.”
Mark Lund OBE, Deputy Chair of the Online Advertising Taskforce, said: “I am delighted to welcome this Best Practice Guide for the Responsible Use of Generative AI in Advertising. Developed collaboratively by a sub-group of the Taskforce containing advertisers, agencies, media and tech companies, this accessible guide provides practical tools to help practitioners navigate the opportunities and challenges of Generative AI, whilst upholding the standards that are the foundations of consumer trust.”
The Best Practice Guide has been developed to provide greater clarity on responsible GenAI use, including how to tackle risks such as bias and privacy concerns. The principles also promote environmental stewardship by encouraging users to consider energy-efficient AI choices and advocate the use of GenAI in ways that support societal wellbeing.
All advertising and marketing practitioners are invited to consider adopting and applying these voluntary principles in their businesses. Feedback is welcomed to ensure the content remains relevant and effective, with regular reviews planned to stay in line with developments in technology, regulation and industry practice.
Both the full guide and the SME edition are available for free download via the AA’s website from 9am on 5 February: https://adassoc.org.uk/artificial-intelligence/
Staying active, eating well, and getting enough sleep can go a long way to improving your expected lifespan and healthspan.
But according to a study published in the BMJ, sex could say a lot about your lifespan too.
Their research, which focused on 918 men aged 45-59, found that, “Mortality risk was 50% lower in the group with high orgasmic frequency than in the group with low orgasmic frequency”.
Another study found a link between the cessation of sex among older married men and an increased risk of death, while college students in a separate study seemed to have more salivary immunoglobulin A, which offers a first-line defence against disease, if they had “frequent” sex.
What is “frequent,” though?
How much sex is linked to a longer life?
To be clear, these studies don’t show that having sex itself definitely causes health or longevity improvements. It only shows a link, and researchers have argued that bad health is linked to less sex, not the other way around (though the studies didn’t directly prove that, either).
Whatever the direction of cause and effect might be here, though, similar levels of sexual frequency show up in multiple bodies of research.
In the BMJ study, men who had sex twice a week had a 50% lower risk of death than those who had sex once a month. And in the college student study, those who had sex one to two times a week fared better than both people who had sex less than once a week and those who had sex three or more times a week.
Yet another, more recent study found that having sex at least once a week was linked to a 10% decreased risk of heart disease mortality.
Once or twice a week appeared to be the sweet spot in these studies.
Why might sex be good for our health?
Again, this research didn’t show that sex was definitely the cause of longer lives; it just showed a link.
Regardless, sex has been associated with more than just a decreased mortality risk. It’s also been linked to pain reduction, better sleep, a stronger immune system, decreased cortisol levels, and a better mood.
This seems to hold true throughout adulthood.
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