Boris Johnson’s ex-wife urges PM to take ‘radical’ steps to fix Brexit

Boris Johnson’s ex-wife has urged Sir Keir Starmer to take a “more radical” approach to Brexit in order to correct the errors made in the EU deal struck by her former husband.

Marina Wheeler, a human rights lawyer, has announced she is writing a new book urging the prime minister to go much further in his Brexit reset mission and build closer relations with Brussels.

The new book, titled A More Perfect Union, will call on political leaders to admit that “Europe is once again central to Britain’s future” and argue that Britain should “build a union” with the bloc again.

It comes just days after Mr Johnson launched a scathing attack on the prime minister’s Brexit deal, which he claimed was “hopelessly one-sided”.

“Starmer promised at the election that he would not go back on Brexit. He has broken that promise as he broke his promise on tax”, the former prime minister posted on X.

Sir Keir – who has made a Brexit reset a centrepiece of his administration – said last week’s UK-EU summit marks a “new era” of relations with the bloc, adding that it is about “moving on from stale old debates” and “looking forward, not backwards”.

The deal – which was the first serious attempt to fix the harms caused by Brexit after Boris Johnson’s flawed deal in late 2019 – was seen as a major coup for the prime minister, despite his failure to get concrete details agreed on defence and youth mobility.

Ms Wheeler’s publisher, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, said her book would compare her ex-husband’s Brexit deal to a divorce settlement.

“Like a court order in a divorce, the Brexit deal contains our bare legal obligations”, they said.

“Yet as dangerous forces gather and global technologies stoke animosity, we have a wider duty. If Britain and Europe can’t work together, what chance do democracy and the rule of law have?”, the publisher said.

Ms Wheeler added: “Nearly 10 years after Britain voted to leave the EU, the unstable state of the world is clear to us all. Less obvious is the extraordinary opportunity this presents to put right what went wrong before and build a Europe we can together defend.”

The human rights barrister was married to Mr Johnson for 25 years, separating in 2018 after having four children.

The book’s synopsis reads: “Labour aims for a ‘reset’. Barrister and mediator Marina Wheeler proposes something more radical: a roadmap towards a meaningful rapprochement.

“In A More Perfect Union, she tackles the political anxieties and identity crises on both sides of the Channel, and makes the case that transforming this relationship is now critical if our fundamental political liberties are to survive another generation.

“Concise, forensic, devastating, it is essential reading no matter which side you were on.”

The government has been contacted for comment.

Tesco’s ‘VAR-style’ AI is watching your weekly shop

There was a time when the most complex decision you faced at the supermarket was which checkout queue would be quicker. But now, as you glide your basket past digital price tags, scan your own groceries under the watchful eye of a ceiling-mounted camera and tap your card at a till with no human in sight, it’s clear the humble weekly shop has entered a new era. One powered by artificial intelligence.

Across Britain, supermarkets are rolling out AI and automation technology at a pace that would have seemed outlandish even a few years ago. Surveillance systems designed to catch footballers offside are now deployed to stop you walking out with a tin of beans you forgot to scan. Cameras, sensors, dynamic pricing software, shelf-monitoring robots – all of it being quietly slotted into the everyday rhythms of food shopping.

Some of this will make your life easier. Some of it already does. But much of it asks for something in return: your data, your privacy, your patience, your trust. And not everything you’re being asked to give is visible.

This is not science fiction. It’s not the future. It’s your local Tesco.

The supermarket giant is now trialling “VAR-style” technology at self-checkouts – a reference to the video assistant referee system used in football – where a bird’s-eye-view, AI-powered camera is mounted above each till, watching you as you scan and pack your items. If the system detects that something hasn’t been scanned correctly, it immediately plays back a short video on the screen showing what happened and prompting you to rescan.

The rationale is clear: shoplifting, or shrinkage as the industry prefers to call it, costs UK retailers billions annually. Police recorded 516,971 shoplifting offences last year, up from 429,873 in 2023 – a dramatic rise that underscores the urgency for retailers. Yet only around one in five of those cases resulted in a charge, and more than half ended without a suspect being identified. With more shoppers using self-checkout than ever, theft (both accidental and intentional) is rising.

From a business perspective, AI surveillance offers a fix that doesn’t require more staff. It’s cheaper than hiring floorwalkers, more scalable and less confrontational. Some retailers, like Home Bargains, are using AI to flag suspicious till behaviour. Others, like Southern Co-op, have trialled facial recognition to identify known offenders.

But not everyone sees this as progress. Campaigners warn that high-tech surveillance in supermarkets may do more harm than good. “Everyone wants shoplifting to be dealt with,” says Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties and privacy advocacy organisation, “but turning supermarkets into high-tech surveillance zones is not a proportionate or sustainable solution.”

For shoppers, the experience is different. Even when you’re honest, there’s something unsettling about being watched, flagged and corrected by a machine. Mistakes become accusations. Customer service becomes behavioural correction. There is, increasingly, a sense that supermarkets don’t trust the people who shop in them.

According to privacy campaigners, these systems risk alienating the very customers they’re meant to serve. “These AI-powered tools are often little more than a gimmick that will frustrate genuine shoppers while failing to address the issue,” Big Brother Watch says.

Meanwhile, over in the aisles, price tags are changing too. Co-op and Aldi have introduced electronic shelf labels in hundreds of stores, replacing traditional stickers with digital displays. This allows prices to change instantly, without staff having to swap out tags.

It sounds innocuous enough – even useful. Flash sales can be updated in real-time. Errors corrected centrally. Less paper waste. But these screens could pave the way for something more controversial: dynamic pricing.

This means it is possible prices could change based on time of day, stock levels, demand, or even individual data. A bag of pasta might cost one price at 9am and another at 6pm. Discounts might only appear if you scan your loyalty card. In theory, it creates efficiencies and prevents waste. In practice, it could introduce a lack of transparency that rarely favours the customer, though there’s no suggestion that Aldi or Co-op are adopting dynamic pricing at present.

And if prices start to fluctuate based on who you are – postcode, spending history, online behaviour – that edges us into murkier territory. The kind where your own data might be used to make you pay more.

Much of AI’s retail revolution is happening behind the scenes. Ocado, long a pioneer of automation, is deploying robotic arms to pack shopping bags. AI systems decide what to send where, how much stock to order, when to restock shelves. In Morrisons, shelf-monitoring software from Focal Systems scans stock hourly and flags gaps to staff. Some stores are trialling autonomous robots that roll through aisles checking inventory.

The business case is obvious: fewer errors, better availability, less food waste, leaner staffing. For the shopper, it can mean fewer out-of-stock items and potentially lower prices. AI can also spot patterns in footfall to help plan staffing levels and optimise layouts.

But the human cost is less often discussed. Many of these efficiencies come from replacing people with machines. Ocado has announced job cuts. Self-checkouts mean fewer cashiers. Stock management software means fewer in-store workers needed to monitor shelves. Staff aren’t being “freed up” – they’re being phased out.

Some tech is more obviously helpful. “Smart” salad bar chain Picadeli uses AI to predict demand and reduce food waste. Too Good To Go uses algorithms to surface expiring stock and offer it at discounts. These are real-world examples of AI benefiting consumers, the environment and business all at once.

Other retailers are experimenting with personalised tools, like M&S’s wine finder or AI-recommended recipes. You scan a bottle or item, and the system suggests what to pair it with or what to cook.

What you buy, when you buy it, how long you linger in a particular aisle – all of that can be tracked. In some cases, it already is. That information can then be sold or used to upsell products more effectively. You become not just a customer, but a data point. A profile. A target.

Supermarkets once competed on service. Now, they compete on seamlessness. Frictionless checkouts, algorithm-driven layouts, cashier-less stores like Amazon Fresh’s Just Walk Out model (now partially paused in the UK).

As this tech embeds itself, the question isn’t whether it will change the shopping experience. It already has. The real question is: what are you willing to give up for it?

Do you want faster queues if it means you’re being recorded from five angles? Are you happy to save 20p on milk if your face gets scanned at the door?

The industry would argue this is progress. It makes supermarkets more efficient, more secure and more responsive to consumer behaviour. AI helps reduce food waste. It helps catch thieves. It makes sure there’s milk on the shelf when you want it.

But it also asks us to get used to being watched. To accept job losses in the name of cost-cutting. To live with prices that aren’t fixed and services that aren’t staffed. It asks us to adapt to a new retail world where the human touch is traded for algorithmic efficiency.

For some, that’s a fair deal. For others, it’s a line crossed. Either way, the future of the supermarket is already here – and it’s watching you.

AI-powered robot salesperson could be coming to UK showrooms

Robots powered by AI could soon be selling cars to customers in the UK as a global car manufacturer debuts an unusual new member of staff.

Omoda and Jaecoo owner Chery has showed off robotic sales assistant ‘Mornine’ at the Shangai Motor Show on 23 April. It can greet customers, show them around a car, and even make them a tea or coffee.

The AI robot uses machine learning to improve its performance, learning from interactions with customers. It has been trialled in showrooms in Malaysia and could soon be rolled out worldwide, a spokesperson for Chery said.

The car maker added that Mornine has capabilities including perception, cognition, decision making and task execution and explained the “ideal use case” was for “dealer-level admin and service.”

The car brand’s robotics experts said Mornine uses speech and vision inputs that allow it to “accurately interpret commands including physical gestures”.

Ian Wallace, spokesperson for Chery’s Omoda and Jaecoo brands in the UK, said Mornine could even be offered for use in people’s homes in the future if showroom trials go well.

He said: “Mornine is an intelligent showroom aid. She can show customers around a vehicle, she can answer questions and she can make teas and coffees, so in a busy showroom environment, if staff are tied up, she’s there to be a helpful face of the brand.

“She has learning capabilities so she can react to commands and learn your voice so if you were to use her in a household environment she would start to learn what you like and don’t like.”

Chery said the robot uses ‘automotive-grade hardware’ to allow it to walk upright and it has ‘dexterous hands’ to allow it to grip items. It can also distinguish between voices to identify different customers.

The car maker also showcased a robotic dog called ‘Argos’ at the Shanghai show. They say the AI-powered animal is designed to offer companionship to those who are unable to keep real pets at home.

The ugly truth at the heart of TikTok’s viral morning shed trend

The next big thing in beauty is Hannibal Lecter. If you don’t believe me – and yes, I do mean the cannibalistic serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs – take one look at TikTok’s viral #morningshed trend and you’ll find yourself quickly questioning whether the world has gone mad, thanks to the millions (and yes, we’re talking millions) of videos of women talking their followers through multi-step night-time beauty routines as they peel off each increasingly ludicrous layer after waking up. Think 12-step Korean skincare regimes on acid. Or, like, really expensive onions.

As for the layers themselves, it’s almost hard to know where to start. Perhaps with the chin straps said to reduce the mobility of your mouth while you sleep, which is supposedly meant to reduce snoring while also giving you a slimmer jawline. Never mind that these are contraptions intended to help surgical patients recover from operations, or that they make you look like you belong in a high-security prison. If it makes your face slimmer, well, that’s all people care about.

Next up is the equally chilling – and much maligned – mouth tape, a trend that claims to optimise nasal breathing and increase sleep quality, as well as boosting energy levels and tightening the jawline. However, it could also obstruct breathing, worsen the symptoms of sleep apnoea, and create irritation around your lips. On top of this, most morning shedders are also equipped with under-eye masks (self-explanatory), lip stain, heatless curlers, hair nets, lash serum, and slimy, slippery collagen facemasks that must feel like sleeping with an eel on your face.

For those on the extreme end (because it wasn’t extreme enough already), there are also castor-oil stomach wraps to reduce bloating, eye tape to, erm, keep your eyes closed when you sleep (I think), and some sort of neck sticker I genuinely can’t find a legitimate explanation for. “The uglier you go to bed, the prettier you wake up” is a mantra you frequently hear accompanying these clips, often against the backdrop of some viral TikTok tune like “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish.

The trend began last summer and has escalated ever since, with content creators consistently outdoing one another by adding more and more steps to their routines. At first, I was defensive: why should we criticise women for going to drastic lengths to maintain beauty standards set for them by the male gaze? Aren’t we all facing the same pressures? And so what if it’s a bit absurd; if it makes the women happy, and feel more confident in their own skin, who are we to poke fun?

The hypocrisy is right up there with when men evangelise about the “natural” look (which is never actually natural) but criticise women for wearing “too much” makeup. How dare they have the audacity to try to conform to an aesthetic that’s not only expected of them but practically demanded? We’re damned if we wear too much makeup, and damned if we don’t wear enough. I can’t bear it.

But something about the morning shed feels different, darker, and more dystopian. First, there’s the fact that to maintain a routine like this requires inordinate amounts of time, both during the application stage in the evening and also in the morning “shed” phase. There’s a very limited number of women who can squeeze this in, and I doubt many of them are mothers or working full-time jobs.

Then there’s the financial burden: many of the treatments that feature in these morning shed routine videos are one-use only. Does that mean these women are spending upwards of £20 a day on collagen sheet masks? Not to mention the cost of all the copious serums and creams the women wind up lathering their skin in after they’ve peeled off each of their night-time accessories.

Most of all, though, is the underlying question at the core of this trend: is any of it actually worth doing? “Good quality sleep is vital for skin health, as it’s the time when our skin regenerates, with increased blood flow, improved collagen production and cell renewal,” explain Drs Dan Marsh and Mo Akhavani, founders of the Plastic Surgery Group. “If you’re going to bed with all these things on your face, you’re unlikely to be getting as good a night’s sleep as you would normally, which would arguably have more of a positive impact on your skin health and cell regeneration.”

Some masks might work well for the skin. But you have to be careful about lathering yourself up with too many products. “Transepidermal water loss is greater overnight, and so an occlusive overnight mask can help to reduce the water loss, helping skin to stay hydrated,” add Marsh and Akhavani. “However, slathering on thick layers of a product that isn’t designed to be worn in this way can make skin more prone to clogged pores, breakouts and irritation.”

It’s also worth taking any skincare advice from social media with a heavy pinch of salt. We all have different skin types and will react differently to different products. “Overuse of occlusive masks, or combining acids with retinoids, may disrupt the skin barrier, causing irritation, breakouts, or allergic reactions,” says Dr Vincent Wong, a leading aesthetics doctor.

As for chin straps, the jury is out on whether wearing them will actually make much of a difference to how you look. “Chin straps may provide some temporary benefits, but there is little evidence to suggest that they can provide any long-term improvements,” says Dr Leah Totton, founder of Dr Leah Skin Clinics. “They may work to reduce puffiness, and will compress the facial tissue, which will give the short-term appearance of a tighter jawline and reduced sagging, however this effect tends to be very short-lived, lasting no more than a few hours.”

Mouth taping has been debunked, too, with one study from 2024 published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology noting that while it may help with snoring and ventilation, most of the claims made on TikTok about its aesthetic benefits are not supported by scientific literature.

“These trends highlight how social media pressures people to chase complicated, often unrealistic beauty routines,” adds Dr Wong. “The idea that more effort and more products automatically mean better skin sets impossible standards. Healthy skin develops gradually with simple, evidence-based care tailored to individual needs, not through complexity or extremes.”

Indeed, the best things you can do for your skin are often the most simple and should take the least amount of time, money, and energy.

“The most important thing for skin health is to do the basics properly, which means obtaining adequate sleep, not smoking, avoiding UV light and wearing SPF, eating a balanced diet rich in vitamins and nutrients, and combining that with a lifestyle that involves exercise and hydration,” say Marsh and Akhavani. “These are far more important than overnight face-taping, chin straps and layers of products.

“For evidence-based and medically backed skincare treatments with proven results, it’s vital to seek the advice of a qualified and experienced practitioner rather than seeking guidance online.”