Author: Eleanor Price

Nearly two decades of planning, consultation and £179 million of public money have come to nothing after the Government formally revoked the development consent order for the long-contested A303 tunnel near Stonehenge, drawing the curtain on one of Britain’s most divisive infrastructure projects. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander made the decision to formally withdraw consent following what the Department for Transport described as a “substantial change in the scheme’s deliverability.” Officials said the project “no longer aligns with current strategic policy objectives” and confirmed that alternative infrastructure plans would now be developed in its place. The department cited “exceptional circumstances” as…

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told the House of Commons that four cases of meningitis B have been confirmed in Canterbury and East Kent, with a further 11 under investigation, as the Government announced an emergency vaccination programme for University of Kent students. Addressing MPs on Tuesday, Streeting described the situation as an “unprecedented outbreak” that was “rapidly developing,” and confirmed that both deaths associated with the cluster had now been formally linked to the confirmed cases. He said the majority of cases traced back to the Club Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury on the evenings of 5th, 6th and 7th…

Deborah Meaden, one of the BBC’s most familiar faces after two decades on Dragons’ Den, has become embroiled in a significant controversy following a series of reposts on social media platform X that have drawn accusations of spreading antisemitic content and misinformation about the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States. The 67-year-old entrepreneur, who has nearly 700,000 followers on the platform, has reposted a range of material in recent weeks touching on the escalating Middle East crisis. The reposts included claims that Donald Trump is “Israel’s slave” and that the US Congress is “owned and operated by the…

A backstage video from the 98th Academy Awards showing Teyana Taylor in a heated exchange with a man has divided social media, after the singer and actress was filmed accusing him of physically pushing her during the ceremony. In the footage, which spread rapidly across social media platforms, Taylor can be heard telling the individual: “You’re a man putting your hands on a female. You’re very rude.” When someone nearby asked what had occurred, she added: “Because he was putting his hands on a female, he literally shoved me.” The clip prompted an immediate split in public reaction. A number…

Water-only fasting has surged in popularity in recent years, championed by wellness influencers and biohackers who claim it can rejuvenate the body from the inside out. But what does the science actually say — and where did the idea that starving yourself might be good for you come from in the first place? The answers lie partly in a Nobel Prize-winning discovery about the way human cells clean house, and partly in a growing but still incomplete body of clinical research. What the Research Shows A team at Queen Mary University of London examined what happens to the body during a…

A tetanus and diphtheria vaccine that requires no refrigeration has completed its first phase of human trials, with results suggesting it remains effective after being stored at room temperature for up to two years, scientists have announced. The vaccine, known as SPVX02, was developed by UK pharmaceutical company Stablepharma Ltd, with specialist laboratory testing provided by the UK Health Security Agency. Evaluation of the Phase 1 trial results, carried out at UKHSA’s Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre, indicated the vaccine retained its effectiveness after long-term storage at 30°C for 24 months — without the need for a cold chain. The…

Bargain-hunters prepared to travel to Turkey despite the ongoing Middle East conflict can currently snap up flights for as little as £15 and week-long package holidays for around £200, with airlines slashing prices to maintain demand — though travel experts are warning the window for cheap deals may be closing fast. The steep discounts come as some British tourists have pulled back from booking amid concerns about regional instability following the US-Israel strikes on Iran, which began on 28 February. Those fears deepened further after NATO intercepted two ballistic missiles fired from Iran toward Turkish airspace within the space of…

The BBC has publicly acknowledged that the television licence fee is no longer capable of sustaining its public service mission, calling on the government to deliver a new funding model as part of the upcoming Charter Review process. The admission came in a 100-page submission published by the broadcaster in response to the government’s Charter Review consultation, which the BBC described as an “urgent opportunity for the UK to secure the world’s leading public service media organisation.” The document sets out the financial and structural pressures facing the corporation and makes the case for wholesale reform of how it is…

Nadiya Hussain has claimed she receives lower pay “to do the same job as the white version of me” whilst revealing she was forced to quit her primary school teaching assistant position after three months because constant illness from her weakened immune system played “havoc with her health.” The former Great British Bake Off winner, who suffers from fibromyalgia, made an emotional announcement on Instagram on Tuesday explaining she had to step away from working with children despite calling it “one of the best jobs I’ve ever done.” Wiping away tears, Hussain stated: “Unfortunately doing a job like that as…

The era of social media as the primary growth engine for digital news publishers is reaching a critical inflection point, with structural vulnerabilities in platform dependency forcing UK media entrepreneurs to fundamentally rethink their distribution strategies. Online news consumption has overtaken television as the primary source of news for UK adults, with approximately 71 percent consuming news online and more than half accessing content via social media platforms. These figures appear to validate social-first strategies that have dominated digital publishing for over a decade. However, the fundamental business risk lies not in audience size but in control. Publishers building revenue…