During filming for Beast Games on Amazon, MrBeast broke a whopping 44 Guinness World Records.
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MrBeast sets 44 Guinness World Records during Beast Games
‘Just got 26’ cheer Cadbury shoppers bagging bargains in HUGE 80% off sale and prices start from 39p
CADBURY shoppers have been left delighted to bag bargains in a huge chocolate sale where prices start from just 39p.
Christmas chocolates are being sold at slashed prices at Cadbury Gift Directs.
The great deal was spotted buy a shopper who posted about the deal on the popular facebook page Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK.
They wrote in a post: “Up to 80 per cent off at Cadbury Gifts Direct!”
Most of the chocolates are being sold for dirt cheap prices.
The cadbury Mini Puds (Box of 22) is being sold fir just £11, down from £43.
While the Cadbury selection pack (Box of 26) is being sold for £7.50 instead of £42.
Even the 70g pack of Dairy Mil Chocolate Christmas coins has been slashed from £118 to just £25.
An excited shopper said: “Just bought a load of them.”
Another customer wrote: “This is amazing.”
A third person said: “I bought 26 of them! Perfect for parties.”
meanwhile, chocolate lovers are going bananas over a Cadbury treat from New Zealand returned to B&M.
The store is known for stocking unusual treats from across the world, but this particular chocolate bar sent customers into meltdown.
Perky Nanas, usually only seen on the other side of the world, are now being sold at the discount store for just £1.
The soft banana-flavoured 45g chew bar comes covered with Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate.
A snap of the sweets were shared on Dansway Gifts and Bargains UK Facebook page and followers were thrilled.
One wrote: “Love them, I buy 10 at a time, chewy banana filling! They always sell out though hence why I get so much, I don’t like when people get greedy but other people are doing it, I’m not going to miss out.”
“These are lush I love them they are like foam bananas but more softer in a chocolate coating!” echoed a second.
“Got some of these yesterday they are well nice,” said a third.
It comes as the viral “Dubai chocolate” sensation has finally arrived in the UK, causing a frenzy amongst shoppers.
The dessert, inspired by the Middle Eastern treat knafeh, features a rich pistachio filling and crunchy Kadayif pastry at its centre, all coated in chocolate.
Morrisons has introduced the Pistachio Kunafa Dubai Chocolate cake bar, priced at £5 each.
The ‘Dubai chocolate’ trend gained momentum on social media platforms like TikTok, captivating dessert enthusiasts worldwide.
Its unique combination of flavours has made it a must-try delicacy.
One Facebook user shared their excitement, posting a picture of the chocolate with the caption: “Look what I found in Morrisons this morning was £5 but worth a try”.
How to save money on chocolate
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
Labour must hike defence spending & NOT fritter billions on woke foreign aid schemes
Indefensible
THE case for spending billions more on defence is now as unarguable as it is urgent.
At a time when Donald Trump is demanding Europe steps up to provide its own deterrent against Putin’s Russia, Britain’s military is on its knees.
We don’t have enough troops to provide a meaningful chunk of any future peace-keeping force in Ukraine.
And our Navy has been reduced to a handful of barely functioning ships and submarines.
Yet Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are still ruling out spending more than 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence when we need at least three per cent — and Trump demands five.
Treasury mandarins — guilty of senselessly running down our Armed Forces for decades — say there is no money.
Yet The Sun today reveals billions in staggering waste on foreign aid schemes like gender training in Jordan, green projects in Somalia — even a study on sickly shrimps in Bangladesh.
Some might say these are examples of the UK exercising soft power to buy influence abroad.
Others may well conclude we are being taken for mugs.
Britain simply cannot afford to sacrifice security at home on the altar of diversity and inclusion and Net Zero delusion abroad.
Having the military capability to protect our people should be the Government’s number one mission.
This hideous foreign aid frittering of our money shows priorities remain hopelessly wrong.
Self Hermer
DESPERATE for ideas for economic growth and with business confidence plummeting, the Prime Minister urges Cabinet colleagues to act as “disruptors”.
We wonder how the Attorney General Lord Hermer fits into this radical new thinking?
After all, he’s a one-man standard bearer for the arrogant, failed human rights-loving legal establishment.
Having categorically ruled out quitting the ECHR, will Lord Hermer now come up with “disruptive” measures to prevent activist judges allowing foreign criminals to stay here because their kids prefer British chicken nuggets?
Will he suggest a plan to tear up decades of woolly liberal thinking in the Home Office to stop the small boats?
It seems vanishingly unlikely.
Shirk ethic
WORKING from home has already damaged productivity in UK plc.
It now threatens to do more harm to school children who — like increasing numbers of their mums and dads — see turning up for class on Mondays and Fridays as optional.
Responsibility for showing the value of work lies with parents.
Starting, ironically, in the home.
UK wastes BILLIONS on crazy foreign projects like Kenyan gender lectures while dithering on defence spending
BRITISH taxes are being squandered on shrimp farms in Bangladesh, poetry workshops in Colombian jails and gender lectures in Kenya.
UK workers also fund diversity training in the Jordanian army and cyber security for India — while pressure mounts to raise our military budget and millions wait for an NHS appointment.
Britain spends around £15billion per year on overseas aid, £9billion of which is by the Foreign Office.
A recent US crackdown on its scandalous state waste has sparked demands for a UK version.
President Donald Trump hired billionaire Elon Musk to head up a Department of Government Efficiency and it has wasted no time shuttering aid, green and diversity, equity and inclusion projects at the stroke of a pen.
A number of online campaigns have sprung up to highlight shocking abuses around the world on the public dime.
Among the worst cases, the past three years have seen the UK hand more than £133,000 to Bangladesh Agricultural University to study shrimp health.
The most recent £59,000 payment from taxpayer-bankrolled quango the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture was made in September.
Taxpayers are also funding woke ideology around the war-torn Third World.
In January 2024 the Science Department paid £233,000 to “identifying barriers to mental healthcare for civilians affected by armed conflict in Colombia”.
Last December the Foreign Office paid a contractor £9.5million to support “accountability and inclusion” in war-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The department also funded a £110,000 conference on “preventing gender-based disinformation” in Kenya, and £473,070 for a Criminal Justice Adviser in Somalia.
A £30million budget has been set aside for “enhancing gender outcomes” in Nepal in a contract running until 2030.
The UK is under pressure to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP — an extra £5billion a year — as Vladimir Putin’s forces gain ground in Ukraine and President Trump calls for Nato to increase spending to five per cent of GDP.
While Labour dithers on the UK increase, £500,000 was handed to a Directorate of Military Women’s Affairs in Jordan to support the “gender mainstreaming strategy” in its army.
The Foreign Office has also offered up £500,000 of taxpayer money to buy 15 electric vans being donated to Albanian prisons, secured through a local Porsche dealer.
The contract boasted the cars would help the Balkan state move “towards Net Zero and is part of a wider greening initiative”.
Officials have also earmarked £1.9million to create jobs in Albania to stop its citizens from leaving the country.
Former government adviser Jason Brown, who has launched The Waste Files campaign, blasted: “With taxes at eye-watering levels and hard-working families struggling to make ends meet, Brits up and down the country will be astonished that their hard-earned money is being spent on sending electric cars to prisons in Albania.”
Brits are also paying through the nose for climate initiatives in foreign countries, including £114million for “inclusive green enterprises in India.
The project has also exposed £25million for “Green Urban Growth” in Somalia, and £38million for “Green Growth” in Nepal.
Since 2023, the Environment Department has spent £4.1million on “championing inclusivity in plastic pollution” from a £310million budget.
Some £5million has gone to “transforming feminist funding in Iraq”, £264,000 to “better understand disinformation in Ethiopia” and £44,000 went to studying Thailand’s alcohol policy.
Charities receiving government funding have also been accused of milking taxpayers for woke enterprises.
They include the British Council, which this year is getting £162.5million from the Foreign Office — 15 per cent of its total income — under the guise of “Overseas Development Aid”.
Woke enterprises
The organisation recently trumpeted its funding for a “performance poet” who “uses poetry to explore what it means to be human . . . from workshops in Colombian prisons to performances in a Bangkok mall”.
Online sleuths have spent months studying contracts published on the Government website to expose waste.
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to raise the military budget to 2.5 per cent of GDP but is yet to set out a timeline, amid fears it may not be hit before the election.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly not prepared to go beyond 2.3 per cent in her spending review this year.
Downing Street sources last night dismissed speculation of tensions between the pair but no uplift is expected to be announced before summer.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said yesterday: “The whole Cabinet, the whole Government, I think most people in this country recognise the pressures the world is under, and that more will have to be spent on defence.
“The spending review will set out the roadmap to that target.”
Expose waste
Nato’s chief — Dutchman Mark Rutte — has called on alliance members to go even further at three per cent.
To raise the money, campaigners are demanding a waste-cutting drive alongside cuts to the ballooning benefits bill.
In Opposition, Labour pledged to rein in profligate spending and created an efficiency quango, the Office for Value for Money.
A Commons watchdog has since called it a waste of money itself, and the overseas contracts show no signs of abating.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride told The Sun: “Given the Chancellor’s disastrous Budget, it’s clear that we must urgently rein in these pointless and eye-watering spending projects to stop further tax rises on hard-working families.”
He added: “The time for reckless spending is over.
“We need a government that prioritises value for money, not waste — and under new leadership only the Conservatives will deliver that.”
The time for reckless spending is over
Mel Stride
Former Asda chairman Lord Rose was among those demanding more efficiency.
He told Times Radio: “We need to cut some spending in some places to afford spending in other places whilst these growth initiatives start coming through. And that means welfare, that means waste, and that means the NHS.
“I read a proposal, should we have a Department of Government efficiency in the UK? Well, yes, please.”
It has been almost ten years since The Sun first exposed the UK’s mind-blowing foreign aid spending while our military was being cut to the bone.
Under the headline “Funding Nemo”, we revealed how taxpayer cash was being used finding mates for tropical fish off Africa – demanding money went to “forces not farces”.
Our military misses out
By JACK ELSOM
HERE are just four ways some of the overseas aid could have boosted our military:
- The half a million pounds spent sending electric cars to Albania could have paid for 20 soldiers to start basic training.
- The £233,000 for researching “barriers to mental health” in Colombia could have funded six British Army Corporals.
- The £110,000 for a gender disinformation conference in Kenya could buy advanced armour for 100 troops.
- The £133,000 on studying shrimp health in Bangladesh could have bought six standard sniper rifles.
FOLKS, IT’S A WASTE
By CHARLOTTE GILL, Anti-waste campaigner
DID you know that YOU paid for following university research?
The Europe that Gay Porn Built, 1945-2000 (£841,830); Diversifying participation in English folk singing (£1,485,400) and Decolonising the Museum: Digital Repatriation of the Gaidinliu Collection from the UK to India (£805,769).
Does that sound like a good use of your wages?
Unfortunately this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to government waste, something I have been auditing since 2023 on my online blog “Woke Waste”.
Far from Britain being subjected to “austerity”, politicians have been quietly haemorrhaging our money on everything from diversity initiatives to left-wing think tanks, to a student “decolonising” museums in Bolivia.
So far I have single-handedly calculated tens of millions of pounds of waste – and expect, with my team, to uncover billions in total.
Waitrose in ice kill ban
By ELEANOR GUNN
WAITROSE is refusing to sell prawns killed via a method called ice slurry suffocation.
The supermarket says the practice of dunking the crustaceans in freezing water causes them unnecessary suffering.
It is backing campaigners who argue it is often ineffective and the prawns suffer a prolonged death from asphyxiation.
Waitrose had already phased out eyestalk ablation, a method for getting the creatures to lay more eggs by crushing one or both of their eyes.
The store says it will now only stock prawns killed by electrical stunning, which is considered more humane.
Man Utd squad is worse than Tottenham despite £420million MORE in transfer spending in last decade, says Gary Neville
GARY NEVILLE reckons Manchester United’s squad is WORSE than Tottenham’s… despite spending nearly half a £1billion MORE over the last decade.
And he claims just ONE Red Devils player would get into the Spurs XI.
Ruben Amorim’s struggling side were beaten 1-0 away in North London on Sunday.
James Maddison grabbed the only goal of the game with a rebound.
The playmaker then seemingly responded to criticism from Roy Keane with his modified darts celebration.
United were forced to name eight teenagers on the bench alongside Victor Lindelof as injuries ravaged the team.
But regardless of the current injury woes, Neville reckons the Red Devils’ squad is inferior to that of Spurs – despite the massive gulf in spending.
Speaking during the debrief on Sky Sports Super Sunday, the former right-back said: “If you take Tottenham’s best players – Porro, Udogie, Van de Ven, Romero, Bissouma, Sarr, Maddison, Kulusevski, Solanke, Son, Johnson, Tel – how many Manchester United players would get into that Tottenham team if everyone was fit?
“I think Bruno Fernandes you would want to have in there.
“Maybe Amad Diallo but if you’ve got Kulusevski or Amad, to be honest, I’ll probably go Kulusevski.
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“My point is, every single Tottenham player bar one if they were all available is better than every single Manchester United player.
“That’s not being emotional, it’s not ranting, we’ve gone past that now.
“It’s just really sad that that’s where Manchester United are currently at.”
Since 2016, Manchester United’s net spend on transfers is a whopping £1billion.
That includes the £89m club-record purchase of Paul Pogba in 2016 plus Antony (£85.5m), Harry Maguire (£85m), Romelu Lukaku (£75m), Jadon Sancho (£73m) and Rasmus Hojlund (£72m) all arrived in massive deals.
Their biggest signing this season was Leny Yoro for up to £52m.
United’s record sale remains Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009 so the highest fee received in the period since 2016 is the £73m they got from Inter Milan for Romelu Lukaku in 2019.
Ironically, the money banked for Mason Greenwood (£26.6m) and Scott McTominay (£25m) in the summer are among the biggest United sales of all time.
United have sold £371m worth of players since 2016 – the lowest in the ‘Big Six’ – to take their overall net spend to just about exactly £1bn.
In comparison, Tottenham’s net spend is £580m over the same period.
That takes into consideration £995m spent on new signings and £415m in sales.
Their outlays this season total £145m on record arrival Dominic Solanke (£65m), £40m on Archie Gray, £25m on Wilson Odobert and £12.5m on goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky who came in during January.
Other significant signings include Richarlison (£50m), Dejan Kulusevski (£25m), Maddison (£40m), Pedro Porro (£37.3m), Micky van de Ven (£35m) and Brennan Johnson (£47.5m).
Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich at the beginning of last season for an initial £86m.
Kyle Walker’s move to Manchester City in 2017 was worth around £50m but the biggest sales this season were Oliver Skipp to Leicester (£20m), Emerson Royal to Milan (£12.8m) and Joe Rodon to Leeds (£10m).
Add in the 2015-16 figures to take it all the way back a decade and the numbers are even more stark as Tottenham made a small £13m profit in that season while United were down around £45m.
And that means the overall difference in spending is a total of approximately £478m in the last ten years.
United have won five trophies – two FA Cups, two League Cups and a Europa League – compared to zero for Spurs in that time.
But now according to Neville, Tottenham seemingly have a better team and are in a stronger position on the field than his old side.
Man Utd ratings v Spurs
MANCHESTER UNITED slipped to a 12th defeat in the Premier League with Rasmus Hojlund coming under fire again.
Here’s how SunSport’s Katherine Walsh rated the Manchester United players against an underachieving Spurs side – who are now three places above them in 12th – in North London.
Andre Onana – 3
United can’t do anything with him between the sticks. Can’t be trusted to collect anything.
His opposite number Vicario showed him a thing or two after returning for the first time since Spurs thrashed Man City in November.
At fault for the first goal when he palmed out a relatively weak bouncing shot into Maddison’s path in the 13th minute.
Noussair Mazraoui – 5
An OK performance. Clever link-up play with Zirkzee but couldn’t get hold of Spence down the left-hand side.
Pulled out an excellent cross for the Dutchman’s headed chance late-on.
Matthijs de Ligt – 6
His clearance stopped an obvious 2-0 before the half-an-hour mark.
Harry Maguire – 5
A mixed bag. Long ball over the top for Hojlund’s chance in opening 10 minutes and went on a few attacking runs himself in the first half.
Did well to stop Dejan Kulusevski from having a go at the edge of the box. But bizarrely stopped in his tracks when a cross came flying into Son later on.
Diogo Dalot – 6
A difficult afternoon for the Portugal international as Son and Djed Spence left him for dead a few times.
Hesitated when asked to shoot from five yards to make it 1-0 but helped Onana out with some clearances too.
Patrick Dorgu – 4
A Prem debut to forget. He was almost invisible from the left-hand side. And lacked quality when asked to get involved more in the second half.
Was stupidly caught offside with Bruno Fernandes offloading a stunning cross pitch pass and booked late-on.
Casemiro – 5
Looked every bit a player that hasn’t played Premier League football for two months. Unsurprisingly booked for a late one on Son.
Bizarrely dropped to the turf asking for a free-kick when nobody touched him. Was forced to play 89 minutes with eight teenagers on the bench. A difficult afternoon, indeed.
Bruno Fernandes – 5
Interceptions and breaking up play is not a part of the captain’s game. An uncharacteristically poor cross left United open on the counter.
Did get back to stop Son from having a shot at Onana on the hour mark and started ticking in attack in the final 20 minutes.
Alejandro Garnacho – 4
Looked shaky and cut a frustrated figure after blazing over an absolute SITTER from 10 yards to level the scores.
A bit of a shocker and looked a completely different player to the one who got United into the fifth-round of the FA Cup last week.
Woke up a bit in the second half as Vicario kept him at bay with several superb stops. But the 20-year-old is clearly better off the bench.
Joshua Zirkzee – 6
The best of a desperately poor front three. There’s a street player in there and he’s great with his touches at times.
But curled wide from 23 yards, stuck a header wide in the 70th minute and kicked an air shot in the final five minutes.
Rasmus Hojlund – 3
Is Hojlund the worst No 9 in United’s recent history?
The young Dane, who was unlucky to have a chance saved by Vicario, was second best in every loose ball and kept losing possession.
He was even caught offside after a pass from an Onana goal-kick in the first half – how often do you see that happen?
Love Island finalists revealed as couple are brutally AXED by their co-stars one day before show final
LOVE Island All Stars’ final couples have been revealed after one couple fell at the final hurdle.
A shock result saw series 11 islanders Harriett Blackmore and Ronnie Vent dumped from the villa after a vote from their co-stars.
As part of a shock final twist, the already dumped Islanders made a come back to the South African abode to vote off one of the three least popular couples as chosen by the public.
Harriett and Ronnie, Sammy and Elma and Catherine and Omar were all at risk of being axed with six of the 11 islanders choosing to axe Harriett and Ronnie.
Ronnie told the boys it was a “sore” way to go after he and his villa partner were left raging at many of the reasoning’s given by their fellow Islanders.
Most of the dumped contestants cited the fact Harriett and Ronnie split weeks after leaving the villa last summer as the main reason for giving them the boot – something that the couple rejected as a valid reason.
Before being dumped, Harriett found herself locked in a war of words with returning show star, Olivia Hawkins.
Olivia cast her vote for Harriett and Ronnie and explained: “I do think that if things don’t work out first time, going back to it is always a risk.”
But Harriett fired back: “The girl literally photoshopped her head onto mine and sent it to Ronnie and he still didn’t want you on the outside or in the Villa…”
Olivia responded: “I didn’t want to go on a date with Ronnie.”
It means that the All Stars final five couples have now been determined.
Luca Bish and Grace Jackson, Ekin-Su and Curtis Pritchard, Catherine Agbaje and Omar Nyame, Elma Pazar and Sammy Root as well as Gabby Allen and Casey O’Gorman are now vying for the public’s votes to be crowned champion.
One of them will be crowned champion in tomorrow night’s final.
Love Island All Stars 2025 official line-up
Love Island All Stars is back on TV for season 2.
Here we take you through the line-up of all the Islanders who are in the villa so far.
- Scott Thomas – season 2 (2016) – QUIT
- Marcel Somerville – season 3 (2017) – OUT
- India Reynolds – season 2 (2017) – OUT
- Gabby Allen – season 3 (2017)
- Elma Pazar – season 5 (2019)
- Curtis Pritchard – season 5 (2019)
- Kaz Crossley – season 5 (2019) – OUT
- Olivia Hawkins – season 10 (2023) – OUT
- Nas Majeed – season 6 (2020) – OUT
- Luca Bish – season 8 (2022)
- Catherine Agbaje – season 10 (2023)
- Ronnie Vint – season 11 (2024)
Bombshells
Each series brings with it a string of hot single bombshells making their epic entrance into the villa.
Here’s who has joined the villa so far:
- Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu – season 8 (2022)
- Casey O’Gorman – season 9 (2023) and All Stars (2024)
- Ron Hall – season 9 (2023) – QUIT
- Tina Stinnes – season 2 (2016) – OUT
- Grace Jackson – season 11 (2024)
- Harriet Blackmore – season 11 (2024)
- Montel McKenzie – season 10 (2023) – OUT
- Sammy Root – season 10 (2023)
- Danielle Sellers – season 3 (2017) – OUT
- Omar Nyame – season 11 (2024)
- Samie Elish – season 9 (2023) – OUT
- Chuggs Wallis – season 7 (2021) – OUT
Dancing On Ice star reveals he was ‘rushed to surgery’ after the show following a nasty accident
A FORMER Dancing on Ice contestant has revealed that he was rushed to surgery following his time on the show after suffering a horror injury.
James appeared on the ITV skating contest in 2019 and found himself as winner of the show.
However, it was not all plain sailing for the star as he was left requiring treatment after injuring himself around the time of the final.
James was left needing shoulder surgery after suffering a tear whilst on the show.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, James said: “I had to have shoulder surgery after the show, because when I fell, I tore my rotator cuff.
“I loved doing the show and loved being part of it, but I knew what potentially could happen to me, and unfortunately, it did happen to me.”
The former Strictly pro then added: “The day before the final I tore my rotator cuff, and I had to have surgery, but that’s the risk I was prepared to take.
“I signed up to the show and I knew what I was doing.
“People might say it’s too dangerous, but the celebrities have decided to go on the show.”
James had originally considered quitting the show before the final as a result of the injuries but decided to push on in order to achieve success.
The current series of Dancing on Ice has been plagued by injury with a total of FOUR stars having pulled out.
Dame Sarah Storey quit the show before the series began as a result of injury whilst comedian Josh Jones left after just one week after injuring himself in rehearsals.
Pro Vanessa Bauer was forced to bow out of her partnership with Chris Taylor after injury whilst Charlie Brooks‘ partner Eric Radford missed a week after being left unable to compete.
The show is no stranger to stars getting injured over the years with the 2021 series forced to drop an entire episode after too many stars were unable to compete.
Dancing On Ice 2025 pairings
Here's the 12 celebs taking part in 2025 - along with their professional partner.
Charlie Brooks and Eric Radford
Chris Taylor and Vanessa Bauer
Mollie Pearce and Colin Grafton
Michaela Strachan and Mark Hanretty
Dan Edgar and Vanessa James
Anton Ferdinand and Annette Dytrt
Sam Aston and Molly Lanaghan
Josh Jones and Tippy Packard
Here’s who has left the show so far:
Sir Steve Redgrave and Vicky Ogden
Ferne McCann and Brendyn Hatfield
Chelsee Healey and Andy Buchanan
Sarah Storey revealed she had quit on December 6, 2024. The Paralympian was partnered with Sylvain Longchambon.
Keir Starmer must hike UK defence spending soon to have any credibility & ditching woke nonsense can help fund it
EUROPE is in full “something-must-be-done” mode after Uncle Sam finally called time on us drinking on his tab.
Sir Keir Starmer sniffs an opportunity that could make or break his premiership — but he is going to need to put his money where his mouth is to pull it off.
With the PM finally getting the call-up to Washington DC next week, he is due in Paris tonight for President Macron’s panicked summit in response to the White House saying it is time for Europe to pay up on defence.
After a polite shellacking from Vice President JD Vance on Friday and electroshock therapy from his boss Donald Trump, the howls from the Continent are at fever pitch.
Those close to Starmer say he will be “taking a message” from Paris directly to the White House like a trans-atlantic Cupid tying together the two continents — something tried by many British premiers before him.
Euro-whiner
It rarely works, and is an especially tall task amid the little man syndrome of Macron.
I was at a brutal EU summit in Malta in 2017 where Theresa May made a similar offer to be Europe’s “bridge” to the last Trump White House — only to see the ex-PM humiliated by Angela Merkel and Co in a series of stinging put-downs.
However, in the unlikely event the Europeans play ball, Starmer may yet find a role for himself in the world that, despite all those air miles, he has yet to articulate.
But truth be told, the UK is up to its neck in all this as much as any Euro-whiner.
Since the end of the Cold War, European countries — including Britain — have ploughed their taxpayers’ money away from defence and into the welfare state.
This so-called “peace dividend” may have led to ballooning benefits and healthcare, but in reality it meant a massive subsidy from the US taxpayer for the ability for us to sleep peacefully in our beds.
Pointing out this unfairness is nothing new, with countless US presidents — even those deemed socially acceptable by the British Left, like Obama — warning for years that the situation is untenable.
Well, now the music may have finally stopped as the White House confirmed the election rhetoric was not a bluff and America really will be once again retreating into a more isolationist stance.
And Europe and Nato are reeling, noisily making daft claims such as that the US is no longer an ally.
As growth splutters across the Continent, that defence black hole looks almost insurmountable to some countries.
Nato’s boss Mark Rutte talks the talk about Europe stepping up, but is left open to hypocrisy charges, given that the Netherlands — where he was previously prime minister — failed to hit Nato’s two per cent spending target when he led the country for 14 years.
Starmer knows he is going to have to pay to play, and a crunch is coming where he will have to hike British defence spending soon to have any shred of credibility.
That leaves Chancellor Rachel Reeves facing a massive headache at a time when government spending is already due to be massively cut to avoid further tax hikes.
Apart from during those two bloody Middle Eastern interventions, our defence spending has bumped along at around two per cent of GDP for decades.
That’s far short of the cash needed just to stand still in terms of our dwindling firepower.
An extra £5billion a year to hit 2.5 per cent of GDP may sound doable amid the near-£1trillion the Government already spends every year — but the Treasury is playing hardball.
The Chancellor is asking the Ministry of Defence the simple question: what would you slash instead to free up the cash?
But would it really be so hard to find some palatable savings?
As our front page reveals today, government spending is as bonkers as it has ever been — despite years of promises from the Tories to get a grip.
Nothing has really changed as we shell out for shrimp studies, poetry classes and gender projects in countries that can frankly afford their own woke nonsense.
We need drones, not prawns.
Grand ambitions
Only under Labour could a new Office for Value for Money — announced with much fanfare — immediately be ruled a waste of cash by a parliamentary watchdog.
The new body was set up eight months ago but last month was ruled to have “no clear plan” and branded a “red herring” by the Treasury Select Committee.
Meanwhile across the Pond, Elon Musk’s DOGE project has not yet been going a month and has already shuttered BILLIONS of dollars of spending from more than 30 government agencies.
Within days of Trump taking office, more than 100 major diversity contracts were voided, and 10,000 civil servants doling out US taxpayers’ cash abroad at USAid shrunk to just 300.
Two million more government workers were offered nine months’ pay to just walk away.
DOGE is working.
Food for thought for a PM with grand ambitions on the world stage, and in dire need of the chips to stay at the big boys’ table.
TANKS A LOT, KEMI
KEMI BADENOCH’S ratings began tanking about the time she went to war with Nigel Farage, accusing Reform of making up their soaring membership figures.
But what of the Conservatives’ own figures?
There were 131,680 eligible paid-up voters at last summer’s leadership election, with a Tory HQ mole telling me this week that has plummeted by more than 7,000 and now sits at fewer than 125,000.
Nonsense says a party spokesman, insisting the figures are actually up.
Perhaps they should open their books to the Press like Reform did to back up their numbers?
No action on Starmer Covid breach
AFTER wriggling free of a fine over Beergate, the mystery of Sir Keir Starmer’s voice coaching session at the height of lockdown fell outside of the three-year sunset clause on Covid laws.
No further action, said Inspector Knacker, after the PM’s glamorous actress friend travelled across tiers to be at his side on Christmas Eve 2020.
But the verdict is in from the court of public opinion, and it is damning.
Close to 65 per cent say Leonie Mellinger was not a key worker, with more than two-thirds branding Starmer a hypocrite after his lockdown bashing of Boris Johnson.
Those attacks came after Keir was meeting his voice coach indoors when everyone else was ordered to work from home.
And 68 per cent say it warrants an apology, according to polling by More In Common.
Don’t hold your breath for that to be forthcoming . . .
Two-time World Darts champion, 40, reveals he was ‘like a ghost’ towards end of PDC career
ADRIAN Lewis has revealed he became “like a ghost” at darts events
Jackpot is making his return to the sport following a two-year hiatus from the oche.
And in a new interview, the two-time world champion revealed that he had lost his passion for the arrows.
Lewis, 40, will make his long-awaited return in May at the MODUS Super Series.
He told The Guardian: “I was leaving the house, not enjoying it. Even when I was winning I wasn’t enjoying it.
“I was basically just going through the motions. Like a ghost. Winning, losing, I wasn’t fussed.”
Lewis revealed that feeling had been going on for a long time, and it wasn’t just a snap decision.
“It had been building, probably, for 18 months. I’m sitting there at the Pro Tours thinking I don’t want to be there,” he continued.
“Before I’ve even thrown my first dart. Something’s got to change here.
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“I was missing something. My ability had never been in question. But my mindset, that was my big bugbear. I found it hard to get myself up for games, even if was against Michael van Gerwen or Phil Taylor.
“I dunno It’s weird. You just go into your shell. You don’t feel like your normal self.
“I can be more of a glass-half-empty guy, a bit frustrated at times.
“And then sometimes you go out there and you’re trying too hard. It’s weird.“
Lewis told supporters he was taking an indefinite break due to stress from darts while taking care of his ill wife Sarah.
However, he has now declared that he is back in the game and ready to rumble against darts’ top stars.
He said: “Hello, I’m Adrian Lewis, two-time back-to-back PDC and BDO darts champion.
“I am looking forward to playing in the Modus Super Series sometime in May, so stay tuned.”
Watch as Kaz tells Elma ‘Sammy isn’t the right guy’ in brutal blow as axed islanders return to Love Island villa
KAZ Crossley left Elma Pazar stunned as she admitted “Sammy wasn’t right for her” as the ex-Islanders returned tonight.
The Sun exclusively revealed last week that axed Islanders were heading back to shake things up before Monday’s grand finale.
The returning cast held all the power – deciding who stays and who goes from the three couples left vulnerable by the latest public vote.
After watching all the action from the outside, the ex-Islanders were are ready to deliver some brutal home truths.
Kaz didn’t hold back and told the group: “I care a lot about Elma…I don’t know if Sammy is the right guy.”
But a furious Sammy responded: “Do you not think I’ve proved that since I’ve been here…people grow up and change…”
Kaz explained: “If I’m being honest the way you lot handled the Ekin and Curtis situation, I didn’t agree with, that’s my opinion.”
She wasn’t the only ex Islander to deliver some cold hard truths.
Things quickly turned sour when Olivia Hawkins returned and voted to dump Ronnie and Harriett.
In the process she also took a swipe at her love rival.
Olivia revealed: “I feel like there’s one particular couple I probably would have swapped from things I’ve seen on the outside…”
Olivia then casted a vote for Harriett and Ronnie and explained: “I do think that if things don’t work out first time, going back to it is always a risk.”
Harriett fired back: “The girl literally photoshopped her head onto mine and sent it to Ronnie and he still didn’t want you on the outside or in the villa…”
Olivia responded: “I didn’t want to go on a date with Ronnie.”
Liv claimed earlier this series that Ronnie messaged her while he was seeing Harriett, 24, last year.
Harriett was in a relationship with Ronnie Vint last series and left the show with him, but the pair split just three months later.
Ronnie insisted he wasn’t in an exclusive relationship with Harriett, who he left the show with last summer.
