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Nigel Farage’s high-profile gamble appears to have backfired |
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Nick Gutteridge Chief Political Correspondent |
Nigel Farage looked like a political leader gambling with his own future when he announced that he was triggering a by-election in Clacton.
In a video address, he painted the contest as a high-stakes battle of “the people versus the establishment”, in which the winner would take all.
Just four hours after the broadcast, the gamble seemed to have backfired as, one after another, all of the Reform leader’s political opponents said they would refuse to take part.
First out of the blocks was Rupert Lowe, whose Restore Britain has emerged as a major thorn in Farage’s side. He branded the contest a “media circus”.
Next were the Tories, who held Clacton until it was taken by Reform two years ago. Kemi Badenoch said she would not participate in a “fake by-election”.
Around 6.30pm, Labour’s National Executive Committee joined the fray, deciding that the governing party was “not going to indulge” Farage by taking part.
It left him facing the prospect of having to stand against a motley band of novelty candidates, such as Count Binface and the Monster Raving Loony Party.
By forcing this move, the Reform leader, who is facing two parliamentary investigations over donations he received, was trying to get a step ahead of the establishment.
Instead, the establishment turned the tables on him.
This analysis is available only to subscribers.
Continue reading ➤
See more of our coverage below:
Farage by-election gamble turns to farce ➤
Reform UK leader faces two inquiries over failure to declare donations ➤
Janet Daley: Farage’s demagogic by-election stunt makes no sense ➤ |
The Duke of Sussex at an Invictus Games event in London |
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Hannah Furness Royal Editor |
For a few hours, Prince Harry seemed humbled.
At Chatham House, where he gave the opening speech at an Invictus Games panel, he seemed shaken, dejected and a little disorientated shortly after learning that he had lost a £50m court case against the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Over an excoriating 436 pages, there was little comfort for Harry: a comprehensive loss in what has become the campaign of his adult life.
“Poor Harry,” said Paul Dacre, the chairman of Associated Newspapers, in a victory speech delivered by video. “I feel sorry for the way a confused and angry young man has been drawn into this case.”
The Prince sat through two hours of Invictus conversation, looking studiously forward.
He then disappeared with his team and emerged with a smile and a thumbs-up for the cameras.
Within the hour, it was clear why.
A statement, delivered in writing by Prince Harry and Baroness Lawrence, called the ruling a “complete and obvious whitewash”. The lengths the court had gone to in order to “exonerate” the newspaper group “is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted”, they said.
For a moment, I thought this was a chance for Prince Harry to pause, think and regroup.
A chance, even, for him to reset his relationship with Britain and the Royal family.
Instead, the battle against the establishment goes on.
This analysis is available only to subscribers.
Continue reading ➤
See more of our coverage below:
Prince Harry loses £50m phone hacking case ➤
Nicole Lampert: I was a witness in the Prince’s hacking case – and saw his desperation ➤
Paul Dacre: The Mail’s court victory is a complete vindication of the free press ➤
Sign up to Your Royal Appointment to receive Hannah’s expert analysis every week ➤ |
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Allison Pearson The Duke’s failed court case and disastrous UK visit prove he remains a petulant boy who choked on his silver spoon Continue reading ➤
Jeremy Warner It’s painful to say, but an income tax raid is Burnham’s best option Continue reading ➤
Celia Walden Paying Britons to walk is just the start. Next we’ll be bribing people to brush their teeth Continue reading ➤ |
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A polar bear balances on the edge of an iceberg in east Greenland |
Lionel Messi was an emotional wreck at the final whistle |
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Sam Dean Football reporter |
Lionel Messi has played elite-level football for more than two decades but he continues to be as emotionally affected by this sport as any player or supporter. After Argentina’s extraordinary comeback victory against Egypt, the 39-year-old dissolved into floods of tears.
His side won in controversial fashion and are now thinking ahead to a possible semi-final against England. In Atlanta, the Argentina fans celebrated by bouncing in the stands and singing: “Whoever doesn’t jump is English.”
For Egypt, there was only anger. Hossam Hassan railed against the decisions that went against his side. He also questioned the appointment of a French referee, François Letexier, and said he would now take a “stand” by refusing to watch another minute of this World Cup.
Read the full report here ➤
Elsewhere, Switzerland progressed to the quarter-finals after winning a tense penalty shoot-out against Colombia. They will face Argentina in the next round.
Read the full report here ➤
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Simon Briggs Tennis Correspondent |
Despite a lowly world ranking, British wild card Arthur Fery has shown phenomenal mental strength by reaching Wimbledon’s quarter-finals today. Intriguingly, one of the ways he honed that mental strength was by cliff-jumping as a teenager.
Fery leaps off a tower in France in a photo from his Instagram page |
“I did use those kinds of things to work on losing the fear,” said Fery. It wasn’t long, however, before his parents clamped down on his daredevilry. “When I’m trying to make a career out of professional sports, it’s not the smartest thing to do.”
Continue reading ➤ |
Britain’s family car is no longer the symbol of affordable freedom it once was. Skyrocketing vehicle prices, fuel costs, tax and parking are all climbing faster than our wages, pricing ordinary families off the road. If that isn’t bad enough, government plans to discourage vehicle ownership has shifted the war on motorists up several gears. Is Henry Ford’s mass affordability dream coming to an end? Continue reading ➤ |
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‘I was an easy target because I was bigger’: Carolyn Harris before and after her 10st weight loss |
For Carolyn Harris MP, the trigger for her recent 10st weight loss was social media abuse. “I was sick of people calling me fat,” says the 65-year-old deputy leader of Welsh Labour. “It was completely destroying my confidence.” She speaks candidly about her experience taking Mounjaro and how losing weight has led her to rediscover the gym. Continue reading ➤ |
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Thirty years ago, the wacky, nonsensical debut single by five twentysomethings clad in mini dresses and platform boots changed pop music forever. Wannabe transformed the Spice Girls – Posh, Sporty, Scary, Baby and Ginger – from nobodies to global megastars. Rob Fitzpatrick has the inside story of how record labels and the music press almost missed the magic of Britain’s biggest ever girl group. Continue reading ➤ |
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Iain Lee with ‘The 11 O’Clock Show’ co-star Daisy Donovan in 1999 |
Comedian Iain Lee once worked with Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen, before spiraling into addiction, finding fame on reality TV, then spiraling into addiction again. Stephen Armstrong asks: why is he now charging £350 to perform private stand-up gigs in your living room? Continue reading ➤ |
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Tim Spector: ‘My concerns about the side effects of statins dissipated once I experienced their health benefits’ |
I turned down my GP’s offer of statins after suffering a mini stroke in my fifties, writes Tim Spector. I believed the benefits were exaggerated and the side effects weren’t worth it. However, intrigued by the latest evidence that the drug may improve heart, gut and brain health, I started taking it last year, and was converted. Here’s why. Continue reading ➤ Here is another article I hope you’ll find helpful this morning:
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It’s hard to keep track of what’s in and what’s out when it comes to Gen Z. In today’s column, LA Robinson, our youthful Lifestyle Writer, investigates the spectacle of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s nuptials.
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift kiss after an NFL game in Kansas City in January last year |
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LA Robinson Lifestyle Writer |
Remember the days gaudy celebrity weddings were splashed across tabloid covers in multi-million pound image rights deals? Like Posh and Becks’s Disney-esque 1999 nuptials at an Irish castle (the his-and-hers aubergine outfits and three-tiered Adam and Eve cake cut with a sword are the stuff of pop culture legend).
After the Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas Plaza Hotel fiasco in 2000 – when a paparazzo gatecrashed the wedding and sold the photos to Hello! Magazine – the era of the hush-hush celebrity wedding crept in, with high-profile couples like Beyoncé and Jay-Z getting married in intimate ceremonies, far from the feeding frenzy.
Now, with the Super Bowl of a wedding that was Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s 1,000-person celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York last weekend, we’re back to bigger is better.
Thank goodness! Secretive ceremonies may be tasteful, but where’s the fun in that? If you don’t have tickets to Wimbledon this summer, gossiping about guest lists and dress designers over Pimm’s is the next best spectator sport.
This time around, tabloids are out and social media is in, so celebrities are taking it upon themselves to post their own photos and control the narrative.
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Dua Lipa and Callum Turner were married at the Villa Valguarnera in Sicily in early June |
Dua Lipa treated her 88 million Instagram followers to exclusive snaps from her buzzy wedding to actor Callum Turner, a three-day dolce vita extravaganza in Palermo, Sicily. Pop star Charli xcx gave her followers a window into her Aperol spritz- and celebrity-studded bash in Italy last September for her wedding to fellow musician George Daniel. The internet salivated.
Now, the clock ticks on Swift to show us what it looked like inside her fairytale stadium celebration. I’ll be waiting patiently by my phone for Taylor’s new (wedding) album drop.
What do you think about celebrity weddings? Let me know here. |
Beating around the bushEvery weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
In the past week, Telegraph readers have been waging war on euphemism, and one in particular. It started with a tweet by Kirstie Allsopp, who was unimpressed by a certain expression in Bafta’s announcement about the late Penelope Keith. “Dame Penelope did not ‘pass’,” chided the presenter. “She was not a car or a bottle of ketchup... Dame Penelope died.” In response, Jemima Lewis took to our pages to defend Bafta’s choice of words, accusing Allsopp of snobbery.
Charles Cooper, however, was not convinced. “Sorry, but I am with Kirstie Allsopp here. Our language is precious, and should be protected from ghastly euphemism and avoidance of discussing things deemed ‘not nice’. Passing away, or worse passing on, will not do.”
Timothy Morgan-Owen enlisted literary support: “A few years ago, while in New York, I remarked that Gertrude Lawrence died in 1952. I was told that this was a bit brutal, and I should have said ‘passed’. However, her friend Noel Coward put it succinctly in his 1939 play This Happy Breed. When Sylvia says, ‘Mrs Flint passed on’, Frank retorts: ‘She didn’t pass on or pass over or pass out, she died’.”
Perhaps, though, it’s not quite so straightforward. This letter, from Marion Price, made me think about the subject differently: “I would have agreed that ‘passed’ was an abomination and ‘died’ the only appropriate word to use until my husband died in 2024. I found that I simply could not say the word. Now I can. It took some time, however.”
Jonathan Mann added: “People should use the phraseology with which they are most comfortable; but while the phrase ‘passed away’ is now used as a euphemism, this was not always so.
“The phrase dates back to the early 1400s, when it was believed that after a person had died, and once the rites were concluded, the soul ‘passed away’ and began its journey to heaven or hell.
“The Lay Folks Mass Book, from around 1400, contains the phrase: ‘Grant… rest and pese… to cristen soules passed away’. No one therefore should feel uncomfortable about whether they choose to use ‘died’ or ‘passed away’, the latter being far more than a way to avoid a blunt fact.” Are you allergic to euphemism, or does it have its uses? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of this newsletter.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. |
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1950 | General Douglas MacArthur is named commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea
1996 | British pop group the Spice Girls release their debut single Wannabe in Britain
2011 | Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the programme
2014 | Germany defeat Brazil by a record 7-1 scoreline in the semi-final of the World Cup (see our front page from the following day)
Birthdays: Virgil van Dijk (35), Joan Osborne (64), Kevin Bacon (68)
Plus, in the news today, investigators claim they have found the long-lost remains of Alfred the Great. What did they find him buried under?
A statue of King Alfred ‘the Great’ in Winchester, where he is believed to be buried |
1. A car park
2. A leisure centre
3. A school field
4. A Sainsbury’s
Click one of the options to reveal the answer... |
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Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including The 1% Club, Cogs, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was ORIENTEER. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. |
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback at fromtheeditor@telegraph.co.uk. |
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