Table of contents for 1560 in The Week

Controversy of the week Time for the BritCard? Having failed to police the UK’s borders, “Labour has decided to police its citizens instead”, said Tim Stanley in The Daily Telegraph. Keir Starmer last week announced plans for a mandatory digital ID scheme, claiming that it would be a vital tool for tackling illegal immigration. Informally dubbed the “BritCard”, to give it a “dose of whimsy centrist patriotism”, the ID would sit in a Gov.UK “wallet” on your smartphone, and would initially be required as proof of your right to work in the UK, before being rolled out to access other services. The PM insisted that digital ID would help “suppress the black economy that is such a lure to migrants”, said the Daily Mail. That seems “fanciful”: “France has ID…

Michelle Mone, after the High Court ruled that a firm linked to the lingerie entrepreneur had breached its government contract to provide sterile surgical gowns to the NHS during the Covid pandemic – and ordered it to pay back £122m. PPE Medpro was set up during the pandemic by a consortium led by the Tory peer’s husband, Doug Barrowman; and its bid to supply PPE was fasttracked through the Conservative government’s “VIP lane”. Netflix, whose new Dublin-set drama House of Guinness was panned in Ireland. The series was generally well received in the UK (see page 29) and the US, but Irish critics loathed it. One complained that the Fenian rebels “dress and speak like feral leprechauns”, and that the character played by James Norton sounds like a “steampunk Mr…

55% of British voters strongly support or somewhat support people displaying the UK or English flag in public. 14% are strongly or somewhat opposed to this. 60% see Reform UK as “patriotic”, with 24% saying it is not. 40% of voters think Labour is patriotic, and 44% think it is not. The Green Party scored more highly than Labour – with 47% and 40% respectively. Daily Mail/Survation 52% of Britons think that diversity and inclusion schemes aimed at hiring and supporting people from minority backgrounds are a “good thing” – down from 62% in 2024. 14% think such schemes are a “bad thing”. 25% think they are “neither a good thing nor a bad thing”. 9% don’t know. More in Common…

Boris Becker on life in jail When Boris Becker arrived at HMP Wandsworth in 2022, the brutal reality of prison life came as quite a shock to the former tennis champ. “The first thing that you hear is this screaming by everybody and you don’t know why,” he told Laura Pullman in The Sunday Times. He was “scared shitless”. Becker – who had been convicted of hiding £2.5m in assets to avoid paying his debts – then spent three days locked in his cell for 22 hours a day. “You get anxiety attacks. You breathe quicker, you start to cry because you’re alone, nobody can help you,” he says. “It is filthy as hell and so you’re, like, what happened to me?” Though not brimming with prison nous, he knew…

Lisa Catalano is determined to find a husband. The 42-year-old from California’s Bay Area has rented a dozen digital billboards along Highway 101, advertising her hand in marriage. The campaign drives traffic to her website, MarryLisa.com, where eligible men can apply for a date. “This is not a joke, it’s not a gimmick,” she said. “This is a serious, self-funded endeavour… People would be shocked if they knew how much this is costing me,” she told the New York Post. A new statue of Tina Turner in her home town of Brownsville, Tennessee, has left fans of the late rock’n’ roll singer unimpressed. The statue depicts Turner, who died in 2023 at the age of 83, clad in her trademark mini-dress and heels – with a wonky outsized hairdo. The…

The “king of the North” is a hard man to pin down, said John Crace in The Guardian. For the past few weeks, rumours had been swirling that Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester Mayor, had his eye on the Labour leadership – and he did not work hard to quash them. He told all and sundry that Labour MPs were begging him to return to Westminster, so that he’d be eligible to stand. In a 6,700-word profile in The New Statesman, he outlined his vision for Britain; on the eve of his party conference, he told The Daily Telegraph that the Government needed a new direction. Yet it seems that when people concluded from all this that he had designs on Keir Starmer’s job, they’d missed the mark. On Monday,…

For much of its duration, the 45th Ryder Cup seemed an unusually one-sided affair, said James Corrigan in The Daily Telegraph. Having dominated the first two days, Europe went into the singles with an 11½-4½ lead – a “record differential” that placed them just three points away from victory. But on day three at Bethpage Black, a resurgent US team just kept on winning, said Ewan Murray in The Guardian. Suddenly, from having been “eyeing a procession”, Luke Donald’s men were staring down the barrel of “one of the worst sporting capitulations of our time”. In the end, though, the US couldn’t quite rip the trophy “from Europe’s grasp”. On the final green against Russell Henley, Shane Lowry sank a nerveless 6ft putt to take Europe to 14 points, guaranteeing…

The right to remain… To The Times The debate over indefinite leave to remain (ILR) has intensified in recent weeks. Nigel Farage has called for the status to be abolished, while Labour has floated extending the wait to ten years. Although their approaches differ, both risk punishing the very people who contribute most to this country. I came to Britain from Hong Kong under the British National (Overseas) scheme with my savings, integrated into British life, and am proud to call this country home. Like many Hongkongers, I did not come here to rely on the state, but to work and contribute. For us, ILR is not merely a status but a promise: that if we commit our lives to Britain, Britain will commit to us in return. Changing or…

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What happened Starmer fights back Keir Starmer took on Reform UK in a combative speech to the Labour conference this week, describing Nigel Farage as a “snake oil merchant” who “doesn’t like Britain”. Britain was at a “fork in the road”, he said, facing a choice between “renewal” or the “politics of grievance”. As delegates waved flags, he declared that Labour was the “patriotic party”. However, he acknowledged that, while Britain wasn’t “broken”, the road ahead would not be easy. Starmer conceded before the conference that left-wing parties had shied away from voters’ concerns about immigration. He announced a digital ID scheme (see page 6) to help with that issue, distinguishing Labour’s new, tougher approach from Reform’s deportation plans, which he branded “racist”. In her first conference speech as Home…

A modern gentleman would never vape indoors without permission, or listen to music in public without headphones; and he would always hold open the door regardless of the gender of the person behind him, GQ’s panel of etiquette experts has decreed. They also note that a gentleman will offer his seat on public transport; carry his “earthly possessions” in a bag, not stuffed into his pockets; avoid dating any woman who is less than half his age plus ten; and ask questions, rather than always talking about himself. The shift towards no- and low-alcohol drinks hit a new milestone this week, when Ocado reported that its sales of Guinness 0.0 (launched five years ago) had for the first time exceeded those of the traditional variety.…

At the Labour conference this week, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans designed to bring about “the abolition of long-term youth unemployment”. Every young person who has been on universal credit for 18 months without “earning or learning” will be offered a guaranteed paid work placement. Those who refuse to take up the offer without a reasonable excuse will face sanctions, such as losing their benefits. About one in eight 16- to 24-year-olds in Britain are not currently in education, employment or training, according to the latest figures – around 948,000 people.…

Paris Hotel fall: French prosecutors have opened an inquiry into the death of South Africa’s ambassador to France, who was found dead on Tuesday morning outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in Paris having fallen from a room on the 22nd floor. Nkosinathi Mthethwa, a former police minister, had been reported missing by his wife, who had received a worrying message from him. He is said to have suffered from depression: police believe it likely he killed himself. Mthethwa was one of three ex-police ministers implicated in an ongoing inquiry into corruption in South Africa’s justice system, and accused of interfering in police investigations to help out criminal gangs. Nice, France Near miss: Shocking details have emerged of a near-miss collision between two airliners at Nice airport last week, in which…

1* Vienna by Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie and Midge Ure, performed by Ultravox 2 The Ecstasy of Gold (from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) by Ennio Morricone, performed by Unione Musicisti di Roma (cond. Bruno Nicolai) 3 Desire by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, performed by Talk Talk 4 Gimme Shelter by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, performed by The Rolling Stones 5 Ready for Drowning by Nicky Wire, James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore, performed by Manic Street Preachers 6 Passion, written and performed by Peter Gabriel 7 Dark Secret (the Unplugged version) by Kris Drever, performed by Lau 8 Oh Yeah by Boris Blank and Dieter Meier, performed by Yello Book: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell Luxury: a football * Choice if allowed only one record…

YouGov’s tracker polls suggest that, early in this decade, about 55%-60% of British adults thought immigration levels were “too high”; but from mid-2022 this figure shot up, and it now exceeds 70%. Only 15% think levels are “about right”. The issue is also looming ever-larger in people’s minds. YouGov’s figures suggest that a majority of Britons now believe that immigration and asylum are the most important issues facing the nation (previously, health or the economy took this position). 45% say they would support ending all migration – as well as making “large amounts” of recent migrants leave the UK. At the same time, British attitudes to immigrants are more liberal than they’ve ever been; in Europe, Britain is second only to Norway. In recent YouGov polls, majorities said they’d accept…

GPs are being urged to “think again” if they’ve seen a patient three times for the same complaint with no substantial diagnosis. The new initiative, Jess’s Rule, is named after Jessica Brady, who contacted her doctor more than 20 times in the five months before her death in 2020. The 27-year-old engineer was told that her weight loss, persistent cough, fatigue, night sweats and other symptoms were caused by long Covid, and that she was “too young for cancer”. She eventually went to a private doctor, and was diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma (cancer of the glands that line the organs). She died three weeks later. In new guidance, GPs are advised to take a “three strikes and rethink” approach. This could involve ordering extra tests, arranging a face-to-face appointment…

“Russia is at war with Europe,” said Ivo Daalder on Politico. It has been attacking Ukraine for over a decade now, “with increasing ferocity since its full-scale invasion in 2022”. Now, though, it is increasingly waging a “wider war”. Until recently, European nations have preferred to see Moscow’s operations – “the assassinations, cyberattacks, sabotage of critical infrastructure, disinformation campaigns” as falling into “a grey zone beneath the level of armed conflict”. But over the past month, its escalating incursions have become hard to ignore. Russian drones have been launched at Poland and Romania. Fighter jets have invaded Estonian airspace. Russian aircraft have buzzed a German frigate in the Baltic. Unidentified drones have brought Danish airports to a standstill. Europe’s leaders are slowly starting to recognise the reality. “We are not…

“Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs.”Max Beerbohm, quoted in The Oldie “If two people anywhere on Earth look into each other’s eyes for more than five seconds, then either they’re going to have sex or one of them is going to kill the other.”Anthropologist Irven DeVore, quoted in The Times “Of course I care about how you imagined I thought you perceived I wanted you to feel.”New Yorker cartoon, quoted in Psychology Today “Politics is the art of competitive storytelling.”Joe Klein, quoted in The Observer “A general interest and preoccupation with politics is the surest sign of a general decay in a society.”Michael Oakeshott, quoted on The Knowledge “One of the things women involved in politics…

To The Guardian Your report says “Tony Blair’s plans for ID cards were abandoned in the 2000s” – this is not quite right. The Identity Cards Act received royal assent in 2006. Steps were then taken to implement it. Jacqui Smith, the then-home secretary, announced in 2008 that by 2014/15, 90% of all foreign nationals in the country would have been issued with a card. However, the first act of Theresa May when she became home secretary in 2010 was to repeal the legislation, abandon ID cards and set up a photocall physically to destroy the hard disk containing the data on the national identity register. Her decision severely weakened this country’s capacity to control immigration, with the disastrous consequences we see today. I am delighted that this Government is…

In 1972, The Harder They Come brought reggae to the world and catapulted Jimmy Cliff – who starred in the film and wrote and performed several of the songs on its soundtrack – to international fame, said Sonny Waheed on What’s on Stage. This glorious adaptation, by Suzan-Lori Parks, honours that cinematic landmark while standing in its own right as a “vibrant, moving and ultimately triumphant piece of musical theatre”. Set in Jamaica, it tells the story of singer-songwriter Ivan, a “country boy” who arrives in Kingston with the dream of making it as a recording artist, only to encounter corruption and slide into a life of crime. But where the film was a gritty drama, featuring scenes of intense violence, Parks has created for the stage something “altogether more uplifting”.…

A “rediscovered masterpiece” by Picasso has been unveiled in Paris ahead of its auction this month, says Henry Samuel in The Daily Telegraph. The work, a portrait of the artist’s companion Dora Maar, was painted in 1943 but has been kept by the family of the first owner, described as “a major French collector”, since 1944; it is being sold by the grandchildren of the original buyer. Never exhibited, except in Picasso’s studio during the Nazi occupation, it features in the official Picasso inventory, the catalogue raisonné, only in the form of blackand-white photographs taken in the 1940s. The painting, executed in a mixed cubist and naturalist style, shows Maar wearing a colourful hat, “in the throes of sadness”, at a time when Picasso had left her for Françoise Gilot,…

Emma insists Susan and Neil should be invited to George’s homecoming party, but when Amber tells Susan that their betrayal is what nearly broke George, Susan makes an excuse not to go. Brian and Justin continue to trade barbs; at a Bible Study group, Alan encourages them to forgive and forget, to no avail. Stella tells Pip she has an interview for a promising job, but after Adam and Brian have another disagreement over money, Ruairi wants her back at Home Farm. He sounds her out, but Stella says she’d only return if Brian retires. Ruairi tells Brian he’s afraid of losing him, and that he’s back in Ambridge for good. Oliver and Dane talk about Lily’s job-swap idea at Grey Gables. Ruairi convinces the various family members to agree…

The classic puddings worth saving Research by English Heritage recently suggested that the British pudding is in sharp decline, and could be “extinct in 50 years”, says Tim Dowling in The Guardian. It seems we no longer have the skill – or patience – to make the likes of bread and butter pudding and spotted dick. With this in mind, I cooked ten classic puds, to “find out which, if any, are worthy of a rescue effort, and which may deserve their approaching extinction”. Being American by background, I was coming to most of these dishes fresh – and in several cases was pleasantly surprised. Queen of puddings (a baked pud made from breadcrumb-thickened custard topped with jam and whipped egg white) was an unexpected triumph, as was steamed treacle…

● Sow hardy annuals (nigella, nasturtiums, poppies, sweet peas, cornflowers, ammi). You should get lots of summer flowers, and you can sow again in spring if they fail. ● Think about what you want the garden to look like next year, so you can implement the changes before spring growth. ● October is a good time to get bargain deals on bulbs, online and in supermarkets. ● Neaten edges to paths, lawns, etc. and clean your tools. Use a sharpening stone and camellia oil on secateurs. Hang a coarse brush on your shed door to encourage good tool-cleaning habits. ● Take semi-ripe cuttings of half-hardy perennials that won’t survive the winter. ● Don’t cut everything back; seed heads and ornamental grasses look great in autumn light or covered in frost.…

A mini-break in majestic Metz It receives relatively few tourists, but Metz is among the most elegant of French cities – a wonderful place to while away a few days, says Anthony Peregrine in The Daily Telegraph. Its “monumental” architecture and its position on the Moselle river speak of its “historical importance”: it was the capital of the Frankish state of Austrasia in the early Middle Ages, and later the world’s most fortified city owing to its location in the frontier land between France and Germany. Wandering among its many squares and gardens is a pleasure, thanks in part to the deep glow of the city’s golden Jaumont stone, and there are plenty of places worth lingering, including a “sublime” gothic cathedral, an 18th century opera house (the oldest still…

Dickie Bird 1933-2025 “Hard to believe now,” said Mike Atherton in The Times, but there was a time when umpires in international cricket were not “mere coat stands” and ball counters, forced to concede their “authority to players and their intuition to the dead hand of technology”. Dickie Bird, who has died aged 92, emerged in that vanished era – and no umpire before or since has become as famous. A distinctive presence in his white cap and coat, sleeves rolled up, he was an “idiosyncratic decision maker”, prone to raise his finger and declare “That’s out” only when there was not a shred of doubt in his mind; but he was consistent, and scrupulously fair. Having been a county cricketer, albeit not a great one, he understood how trying…

Revolut: $75bn tease No one needs reminding that a blockbuster listing would be “a major boost” for the City, said City AM. And the “fintech juggernaut” Revolut fits the bill. Having previously “downplayed his appetite” for floating in the capital, partly out of frustration with foot-dragging regulators, founder CEO Nik Storonsky seems to have had “a change of attitude” – provided he gets access to Wall Street too. The prospect of a dual listing is being “widely discussed”. Were it to happen, the digital bank “would make history” as the first company to simultaneously list in New York and enter the FTSE 100 index. Still, Revolut doesn’t “appear to be in any hurry to conduct an IPO”, said Jill Treanor in The Sunday Times. Completing the launch of the UK…

Too much virtual reality… Alistair Osborne The Times “Calling the top of the stock market is a mug’s game,” says Alistair Osborne. Nonetheless, it’s easy to find “reasons to be fearful” – from the froth around AI stocks to the price-to-earnings ratio (the Shiller P/E reading, which is now “close to levels seen before the 1929 and 2000 market crashes”). Even if you take the view that AI will eventually bring us “robot nirvana”, the statistics are still unnerving. The worrying dominance, say, of the “Mag 7” group of stocks (Nvidia, Apple, etc.), whose $20trn market cap comprises 36% of the S&P 500 index; or the disproportionate weight of US stocks globally. Of course, these are just numbers. What really matters is “how people are behaving on the ground”. Look…

The week’s best shares AG Barr Shares Magazine The high-quality drinks group – brands include Irn-Bru, Rubicon and Moma – is gaining market share and increasing margins. Cash-generative, with trading momentum as it expands into nutritional drinks. Buy. 685p. G&H The Mail on Sunday G&H makes “very difficult things very well”: from submarine imaging systems to portable ultrasound systems and subsea telecoms cables. Set to benefit from rising military spending. Cheap compared with global peers. Buy. 574p. Halma The Mail on Sunday This global group, majoring on health and safety, buys and invests in tech firms – from elevator safety to cervicalcancer screening specialists. Tariffs are worrying, but many of its products are essential and non-discretionary. Buy. £33.56. McBride Investors’ Chronicle The own-label and contract manufacturer is seeing growing demand…

Long shots, after a golfer defied odds often estimated at 67 million to one by scoring two holes in one in a single round. Heating engineer Gavin Bourne was playing a 36-hole final for his club championship match at Droitwich Golf Club when he hit the perfect shots, at the third hole and the 15th. Senior civil servants, with new figures showing that the number earning six-figure salaries has almost doubled in three years. A total of 3,515 civil servants are now paid more than £100,000, out of a workforce of more than half a million.…

From this week, every GP practice in England is required to offer online appointment bookings throughout the day. The move, ordered by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, is meant to reduce the “8am scramble” to book appointments on the phone. The BMA, the doctors’ union, warned of a potential “tsunami” of bookings, and complained that online systems cannot distinguish between urgent and non-urgent requests. It said that practices must be allowed to shut systems to stop them being overloaded; and it is considering industrial action.…

Portland, Oregon More troops deployed: President Trump announced on Saturday that National Guard troops were to be sent to Portland, Oregon, to protect immigration detention centres in the “war-ravaged” city from attack by “domestic terrorists”. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Democratrun Portland – a “sanctuary city” where local police will not normally cooperate with ICE agents – has been the site of frequent protests. Some have led to clashes with federal officials, but the local government insists that most have been peaceful and that the deployment is illegal. At a gathering of military top brass on Tuesday, Trump said that “we’re going into Chicago very soon”. He called for ICE agents to fight back, and said “dangerous” US cities should be used as a military training ground,…

“Whenever I have spent substantial time abroad, the thing that I have got homesick for is the rituals. I missed the queue culture almost as much as I missed my mother – how the British can instinctively form an orderly line. Trust me, this does not happen in India. When I once returned after six months in America, the thing that had me weeping tears of gratitude at the wheel of my rented Vauxhall Vectra was someone doing the famous British ‘half-run’ across a zebra crossing. You’ve doubtless done this little jog yourself, waving or nodding as you do so, to demonstrate gratitude to the driver. In the US, pedestrians and motorists act like sworn enemies.”  Sathnam Sanghera in The Times…

Why Labour finds it so hard to govern Matthew Parris The Times “Wherever Labour governments start, they all end up in the same mess,” says Matthew Parris, and to understand why, you must grasp that Labour is different from other parties. “It’s not a parliamentary army supported by a fan-club national membership. It’s the other way round.” The party emerged from the trade union movement, and its structure, financing and culture remain underpinned by the belief that Labour is the party of the people – people, that is to say, who “disproportionately depend on the state”. And these bonds of sentiment, history and ideology impose powerful constraints on Labour leaders. In straitened times, the leadership may feel impelled to enact market-friendly reforms: but so deep does distrust of the profit…

No, ICE is not a 21st century Gestapo Editorial National Review Another week, another violent attack on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, says National Review. The latest assault, a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas, left two detainees dead and one other wounded (no ICE personnel were hurt). The suspect, who later turned the gun on himself, had inscribed the words “Anti-ICE” on an unspent shell casing. The attack is “part of a very disturbing trend”. In July, 11 left-wing agitators ambushed another ICE facility in Texas, firing at agents and shooting one in the neck. That same month, an incendiary device was thrown at officers in Oregon, and an ICE facility in Washington state suffered an arson attack. Activists, meanwhile, have been pushing to unmask and publish…

A tool to predict future health risk New AI software can be used to forecast which health problems a patient is likely to suffer from a decade in the future. The tool uses patterns in medical records to predict the risk of 1,231 diseases. “So, just like weather, where we could have a 70% chance of rain, we can do that for healthcare,” Professor Ewan Birney, of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, which built the system, told the BBC. “And we can do that not just for one disease, but all diseases at the same time – we’ve never been able to do that before.” The AI was fed anonymous medical records from more than 400,000 Britons, so that it could learn how health changes over time – at what…

Mark Kermode delivered the manuscript for his latest book, Surround Sound, almost a decade past the deadline. But the film critic says that’s exactly how things should be if you’re a writer. “If you deliver it early, the publishers are annoyed because they weren’t expecting it,” he said. “If you deliver it three months late, the publishers are annoyed because they weren’t expecting it. If you deliver it three years late, they’re just grateful.” TheAnnabelle late Claudiabefore Cardinaleyou (see page check 38) this hadpage fondin? memories of shooting the 1982 film Fitzcarraldo – though it is regarded as one of the most challenging productions in cinema history. The film’s location, deep in the Peruvian jungle, was one problem; the other was its deranged star, Klaus Kinski. At one point, tribespeople…

In an ideal world, Kamala Harris’s new memoir about her 2024 presidential defeat would have been an opportunity for deep reflection, said Katy Balls in The Sunday Times – an attempt to grapple with Trumpism, and her party’s failure to connect with voters across the United States. In reality, though, it is little more than an exercise in self-delusion and score-settling. In her book, 107 Days – named after the length of her campaign, which began after Joe Biden dropped out of the race that July – the former vice-president laments that she was given so little time to win over the American people, and casts blame for her defeat on “almost every corner of the Democratic establishment”. There are the Obamas, who initially offered her only “lukewarm” support. There’s…

Before Saturday’s World Cup final, England had lost just once in 63 games, said Sarah Rendell in The Guardian. But “that blot on their record stained everything”. It had come in the 2021 World Cup final, when the Red Roses succumbed to New Zealand – who’d also defeated them in the final of the previous World Cup, in 2017. Now, at last, their pain is “no more”: England have finally converted “their dominance into victory” on the “biggest stage” of all. In front of a world-record crowd of 81,885 at Twickenham, England beat Canada 33-13 to become world champions for the third time. It was a joyous, uplifting occasion, and it “felt like a turning point” not only for this England team, but for “the sport as a whole”. Only…

Tennis Emma Raducanu lost to world No. 7 Jessica Pegula at the China Open after squandering three match points. Football Graham Potter was sacked as West Ham’s manager after a poor start to the season for the Hammers. He has been replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo, who drew his first match against Everton. Cricket Nottinghamshire beat Warwickshire by ten wickets to claim the County Championship. Harry Brook has been appointed England’s Test vice-captain for the forthcoming Ashes tour.…

I confess to being something of an “Austen refusenik”, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. When it comes to Pride and Prejudice, I’m with Mr Bennet in being simply exasperated “by the flapping and concerns of the ‘silliest girls in the country’”. So I was surprised by how deeply I fell for Audible’s outstanding new audio adaptation of the 1813 classic. Lulu Raczka’s script is “super-smart”; the original music, by Morgan Kibby, is lovely; the background “noises off” are convincing and evocative; and an extraordinary cast – led by Marisa Abela as Lizzy, and featuring the likes of Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Bill Nighy, Jessie Buckley and Glenn Close – bring it all to life with great charm, wit and skill. Indeed, this version “is so well done, so delightful, that I…

“It’s been a long time – several years – since an event as stimulating as this opened at Tate Modern,” said Waldemar Januszczak in The Sunday Times. It pulls off a difficult trick: reframing the work of Pablo Picasso in a “fresh” and “adventurous” way. These days, the Spaniard is unfashionable because of his attitudes towards women; “he’s generally the coconut and angry damsels throw the balls”. The Tate, in “a nimble bit of curation”, has asked the trans performer Wu Tsang and the writer Enrique Fuenteblanca to mount a display dedicated to his love of theatre, which invites us to reconsider his work as a series of performances. Its focus is not on the disappointing theatrical sets that Picasso designed, but on his love of play-acting in general: his…

Top of my list, unsurprisingly, has to be the Oxford English Dictionary (OUP £7.99). It may sound predictable, but the OED is anything but. It has comedy, passion, drama, and thousands of tales of the unexpected. Le Grand Meaulnes by Henri Alain-Fournier, 1913 (Penguin £8.99). This was the first book to stop me in my tracks – I was about 14 and completely receptive to a story set in the twilight world between childhood and adolescence. It is wistful, melancholy, achingly romantic and full of longing. I found it so magical that I’m almost scared of picking it up again in case the spell is broken. Jane Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man (1971; W&N £10.99) changes your view on what it is to be human. Of all the creatures…

Programmes Rob Brydon’s Honky Tonk Road Trip The comedian travels through the southern states of America to celebrate 100 years of country music. Sun 5 Oct, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Frauds Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker star in a new crime drama set on the Costa del Sol. Released from prison, Bert (Jones) reunites with an old friend to help her with one last job. Sun 5-Mon 6 Oct, ITV1 21:00 (60mins each). Storyville: The Librarians Documentary about the American librarians fighting to stop books being banned from their shelves by conservative campaigners. Tue 7 Oct, BBC4 22:00 (90mins). The Celebrity Traitors The inevitable celebrity iteration of the popular show. Contestants include Stephen Fry, Paloma Faith and Jonathan Ross. Wed 8-Thu 9 Oct, BBC1 21:00 (75mins and 60mins). Films Dune (2021) Sci-fi…

My recipe for mustardy green beans nods to a classic French green-bean salad, but has a few welcome additions, says Ben Lippett. The pro move here is to add crème fraîche to the dressing: the dairy cuts the sharpness of the vinaigrette beautifully, rounds out the tarragon flavour, and gives everything a punch of lactic acidity. Serves 4 For the dressing: 25g Dijon mustard 20g wholegrain mustard 35ml white-wine vinegar 25ml olive oil 25ml neutral oil 5-10g fresh tarragon 50-80g full-fat crème fraîche fine sea salt black pepper For the salad: 400g mixed long beans; green, yellow, runner or piattoni 50g toasted hazelnuts 4 spring onions 20g dill 250g cooked beluga or puy lentils zest of 1 lemon 60g manchego cheese • Start by making the dressing. Put the mustards and vinegar in…

Roman invaders came ashore at Richborough, Kent, in AD43. You can visit remains of their fort and amphitheatre, and there’s a revamped museum with recent finds (from £9; english-heritage.org.uk). Fishbourne Palace, West Sussex, is the largest private Roman home in Britain. Explore the extensive mosaics from the raised walkway, and admire the recreated Roman gardens (£14; sussexpast.co.uk). Caerleon, Monmouthshire, was one of three permanent legionary fortresses in Britain. Visit the remains of the fort’s baths, barracks and the amphitheatre, built circa AD90 to entertain the troops (£6; cadw.gov.wales). Vindolanda, Northumberland, is one of the best-preserved Roman forts in the UK thanks to its soggy soil (£15; vindolanda.com). Nearby is Hadrian’s Wall and its forts, including windswept Housesteads and Birdoswald, on the longest-surviving stretch of the wall, dating from AD122 (from £10.40; english-heritage.org.uk).…

Ryedale Vineyards North Yorkshire Set at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds, Ryedale is the northernmost commercial vineyard in England. Most of its wines are light reds and still whites that are well suited to the area’s cool climate; but the tasting barn hums with warm Northern hospitality. Tours to see the harvest and the pressing, fermenting and bottling process run until late October, and there are two guest rooms available on a b&b basis (ryedalevineyards.co.uk). Tillingham East Sussex A former hop farm on the Sussex Weald, Tillingham has been producing biodynamic wines since 2017. Its orange wines (made in earthenware jars from Georgia) and its “light” reds are “perfect for a summer afternoon”. There are bell tents, and 11 rooms in a converted hop barn, some with private terraces.…

Claudia Cardinale 1938-2025 When Claudia Cardinale was 18, she attended an event to find “the most beautiful Italian girl in Tunisia”. She had only gone to watch, said The Daily Telegraph, but she was plucked out of the crowd – and declared the winner. The vote had been organised by the Italian film industry, and before long Cardinale was a star – one of only a handful in Italy to achieve global fame. She won numerous awards, and critics and directors vied to encapsulate her appeal – feline, elusive, fierce, passionate, sensuous. Bob Dylan featured her on the original gatefold for his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde; and several of her co-stars fell in love with her (she said she’d resisted them all). David Niven – the “perfect English gentleman”,…

The finalists for the FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year shine a light on current preoccupations, says Andrew Hill in the Financial Times: House of Huawei: Inside the Secret World of China’s Most Powerful Company by Eva Dou (Abacus £25). An investigation into the rise of the controversial tech company. Chokepoints: How the Global Economy Became a Weapon of War by Edward Fishman (Elliott & Thompson £25) addresses the use of sanctions and other measures in building economic arsenals – and the consequences. How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations by Carl Benedikt Frey (Princeton £30). This study of the role of the state and free markets offers a timely warning. Abundance: How We Build a Better Future by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (Profile…

Jared Kushner Big deals are back, and it comes as no surprise that the First Family is at the centre of the action, said The Daily Telegraph. Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is leading a record $55bn takeover of the Californian videogames giant Electronic Arts, the maker of popular franchises including Fifa (now known as EA Sports FC), Battlefield and The Sims. The deal – struck by a consortium including Kushner’s private equity firm Affinity, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the US buyout firm Silver Lake – “sets a new record as the largest debt-fuelled takeover in history”. It also marks a bold wager by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), said Joshua Rivera in Vanity Fair: that AI-fuelled entertainment is “the new oil”. Kushner, 44 – the scion…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1485 Two Connell Guides and three Week-branded items will be given to the sender of the first correct solution to the crossword and the clue of the week opened on Monday 13 October. Send it to The Week Crossword 1485, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid/listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. By Tim Moorey (timmoorey.com) This week’s winner will receive Week-branded items, as well as two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 One brings up unrelated issue (6-6) 10 Got up after meal to get flower (3,4) 11 Do cater properly for style of design (3,4) 12 Charge is about right for an online nuisance (5) 13 Clothing in a shower? (8) 15 Outline of refurbished hotel suite (10) 16 The French without rooms for treating…