Crime & Safety
Sir Keir Starmer ‘carrying on’ after major Labour losses
He acknowledged it had been a “tough” night for Labour but said that “days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised”.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made gains across the country as hundreds of Labour councillors were voted out, although the party gained no seats in the Oxford City Council elections.
READ MORE: Local elections 2026: Oxford Greens’ ‘incredible night’
Sir Keir faces further heavy losses as vote counting continues throughout Friday in both English local elections and contests for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd.
Mr Farage said the results showed a “truly historic shift in British politics” away from the old era of Labour and Conservative domination, vowing “the best is yet to come” for his party.
In Wales, Labour is expected to lose the national vote for the first time in more than a century while the SNP appears likely to remain the largest party in Scotland after 19 years in power.
Sir Keir, speaking on Friday morning, said: “The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it.
“We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party.
“And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”
Sir Keir has already faced speculation about his position; with the Times reporting Energy Secretary and former leader Ed Miliband had urged the Prime Minister to set out a timetable for his departure.
But Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy urged his party not to play “pass the parcel” with the leadership in response to the election results.
And Defence Secretary John Healey said Sir Keir should be given more time, saying “he can still turn it round”.
Labour sources pointed to poor local election results under previous prime ministers, including Sir Tony Blair who lost 1,100 councillors in 1999 but went on to win re-election in a landslide in 2001.
After 41 of 136 English councils had declared full results. Labour had lost control in eight, losing 204 seats.
This comes after the Oxford City Council results gave no clear majority with negotiations now likely to take place to map out the future makeup of the authority.
With Labour winning 10 seats, the Green Party winning nine, Liberal Democrats winning four, and Independents winning one.
In total the Labour party have lost five seats, leaving 20 councillors overall. Meanwhile, the Green party gained five seats, now with 13 councillors overall.
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The incident occurred at Brackley Town Football Club on April 19.
Northamptonshire Police are appealing for any witnesses who saw the incident to come forward.
A spokesman said: “Did you attend a charity event at Brackley Town Football Club? Detectives are appealing for witnesses to an incident which occurred post-match.
READ MORE: Oxfordshire – Dangerous driver hit motorbike during attempted overtake
“Between 4pm and 5pm on Sunday, April 19, a woman is alleged to have tackled a man during a post-match kickabout, which resulted in the victim in his 20s breaking his leg.
“A woman in her 30s has been interviewed voluntarily by police in connection with the assault.
“However, to assist the investigation further, detectives would like to hear from anyone else who may have witnessed the incident or who may have captured the incident on their mobile phone.”
Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or alternatively contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Information can also be submitted online at www.northants.police.uk/RO.
Quote incident number 26000227544.
Singapore Airlines will operate daily flights between Manchester and Singapore from July 13, 2026, up from the current five per week.
Flights to London Gatwick will also increase from three per week to daily services from October 25, 2026.
This will give the airline a total of six daily flights to London, including its four existing Heathrow routes.
If flights are cancelled you’d usually be entitled to choose between a refund or alternative flight, but what about the hotel cost?
Full info in the Martin Lewis Money Show Travel Special: How to protect yourself & save, watch it on: https://t.co/X2NCh7Kr5a pic.twitter.com/RNKU9BUTA3
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) April 29, 2026
Where else is Singapore Airlines expanding into?
According to TravellingForBusiness , the airline is also increasing services to Milan and Munich.
Milan flights will move from four per week to daily from October 25, 2026.
Additionally, a new three-times-weekly service to Munich will launch on October 26, 2026, bringing the total to 10 weekly flights to the German city.
The increased flight frequencies come as the airline prepares to launch a new route to Madrid via Barcelona.
Starting October 26, 2026, subject to regulatory approval, Singapore Airlines will offer five weekly flights to Madrid.
The service will use the Airbus A350-900 long-haul aircraft and will mark Madrid as the carrier’s 15th European destination.
To support this new service, its current Singapore-Milan-Barcelona route will be discontinued from October 27, 2026.
The airline has confirmed all flights are subject to regulatory approval and that schedules could change based on operational needs.
Tickets for the new Madrid route will go on sale from June 2026.
Tonnes of flights being cancelled plus a new virus in town ..clearly the universe knows I have a trip booked
— Andrew Fox (@afoxdesign) May 7, 2026
Ryanair’s O’Leary urges booze ban
In an interview with The Times newspaper , O’Leary said the problem of unruly travellers was becoming worse, thanks to alcohol.
Ryanair, which flies mainly across Europe, was having to divert almost one aircraft a day because of boozy behaviour by passengers, he pointed out.
“It’s becoming a real challenge for all airlines,” Michael O’Leary said.
“I fail to understand why anybody is serving people at five or six o’clock in the morning,” he told the paper.
Have you had a flight cancelled recently? Let us know in the comments
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