Comedian’s show cancelled after joke about Liverpool crash

A comedian has had upcoming stand-up gigs cancelled after making an “embarrassing” attempt at a joke about the Liverpool Premier League victory parade crash that injured 65 people.

More than 50 people, including children, were hospitalised when a vehicle ploughed into a crowd of jubilant supporters celebrating Liverpool’s triumph on Monday evening.

But Andrew Lawrence said he would “drive through crowds of people” to get out of the city, in a post that has been met with a furious response on X.

The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance CIC, who work to provide mental health support to victims of the 1989 disaster, replied: “A comedian really? You’re an embarrassment to the profession.”

Actor Barry Sloane, who is from the city and will star in HBO’s House of Dragons, said: “You absolute disgrace.”

Mr Lawrence, who is on a nationwide tour, then posted that an upcoming gig in Southend had been cancelled.

He said: “This venue lost their courage after being bombarded with abuse and threats of violence from online trolls. Understandable, but disappointing.

“I will reschedule for later in the year at a different venue Southend, sorry for the inconvenience, have a great day.”

Caddies, the venue which doubles as a mini-golf course, added: “We do not condone or support the comment that has been made online, and we send everyone impacted by the tragic events in Liverpool our support and prayers.”

It is not the first time the comic has been “cancelled”. He was widely criticised for comments made about the penalty takers in the aftermath of England’s shootout defeat in the 2020 Euros, and he was also criticised after a poor-taste joke about Marcus Rashford’s anti-poverty campaign.

His then agents RBM Comedy said they no longer represented Mr Lawrence after the post.

A 53-year-old man from West Derby in Liverpool is continuing to be questioned on Wednesday morning after being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug-driving.

Liverpool FC icons Kenny Dalglish and Jurgen Klopp led tributes to the victims caught up in the parade day terror.

In a message of support to fans, Sir Kenny, who won titles as a player and manager, said the club anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone, “has never felt more appropriate”.

In a statement, he said: “Shocked, horrified and deeply saddened about what happened at the end of the parade. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone and their families who have been impacted.

“Our anthem has never felt more appropriate, You’ll Never Walk Alone. Your Liverpool family are behind you.”

Klopp, who won the title in 2020, flew in from Germany on Monday to show his support for his former club.

He said on social media: “My family and I are shocked and devastated. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those injured and affected. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

How Palmer turned Chelsea’s Conference League nightmare into glory

Chelsea’s season ended in glory in Wroclaw as they came from behind to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final and deliver the first trophy of the Clearlake Capital ownership era.

Everything for Enzo Maresca’s team hinged around a five-minute spell midway through the second half.

In that window Cole Palmer turned a match the LaLiga side had enjoyed by far the better of into a Chelsea procession, setting up headers first for Enzo Fernandez then for Nicolas Jackson just as the occasion looked to have overwhelmed this young Blues team.

Until that point and against a wall of noise from the Betis end, Chelsea were outplayed and pegged back by an early goal from winger Abde Ezzalzouli.

Then came Palmer’s intervention, and once they led it was a simple matter of adding goals from Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo, as Betis’s energy failed them.

In the first half, Chelsea had gifted them the lead after just nine minutes.

Malo Gusto’s careless pass through midfield was cut out, the ball breaking to captain Isco, who reversed a sumptuous pass in-field to find Ezzalzouli. The winger peeled away, then took a touch to make space with his right foot, before drilling into Filip Jorgensen’s bottom corner with his left.

It could have been two moments later had Jorgensen not produced a fine reach to keep out Marc Bartra’s curling long-range shot.

There was the unmistakable sense of Betis, whose fans dominated the stadium in noise and number, having begun their first European final with the greater desire.

Isco, a five-time Champions League winner with another Real but never as skipper, suggested before kick-off that the game might mean more to his side than to Chelsea and in the first half there was no doubting Betis’s extra energy.

Gusto, who has had a poor season, was at fault again with an ineffective challenge to be robbed by Ezzalzouli. The goalscorer then bamboozled Caicedo before squaring it for Johnny Cardoso, who from a glorious position blazed over.

Pedro Neto then thumped the ball high and wide, a wild miss that summed up a poor Chelsea half in which they attacked at walking pace and Betis, superbly marshalled tactically by Manuel Pellegrini, coped with ease.

Reece James replaced Gusto at the break and, slowly, Chelsea began to squeeze Betis in their own half.

Finally, 65 minutes into the final, they produced their first clear opening, or rather Palmer did it alone. It was he who spotted the forward dart of Argentina midfielder Fernandez and sent in an arcing cross from wide on the right, which the World Cup-winner nodded down through the grasp of Adrian and in.

Chelsea were now awake and no one more so than Palmer, so when he picked up the ball on the far side of the penalty area five minutes later there was a ready feeling a second goal was imminent.

So it proved: Palmer’s chipped ball to the near post finding Jackson, who adjusted his body well and guided home with his shoulder.

The shock clearly affected Betis, who were beginning to tire following a mammoth effort.

What was left of their spirit drained away when Sancho lifted a wonderful curling finish into the top corner with seven minutes left, before Caicedo drilled home a late fourth.

Britain’s first-ever flying taxi takes to the skies

Britain’s first-ever flying taxi has completed its first journey as the government backs plans to introduce the service by 2028.

The prototype VX4 electric aircraft is the first of its kind to complete a cross-country trip from the Cotswolds in normal airspace outside of test conditions in European aviation history.

Developed by Bristol-based start-up Vertical Aerospace, the vehicle is capable of carrying one pilot and four passengers, and can reach speeds of up to 150 mph across a distance of 100 miles.

Last month, the government announced £20 million of funding to make the use of commercial drones and flying taxi services a reality.

The Department for Transport (DfT) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will be supported by the new Regulatory Innovation Office, which aims to cut red tape to ensure new technology reaches the public sooner.

Chief test pilot Simon Davies said: “Taking the aircraft beyond the airfield and cruising over the Cotswolds for the first time was truly special and a career highlight for me.

“Our performance predictions were absolutely spot on, and the aircraft took off as a natural extension of all the ground tests and preparation we’ve done. There are aircraft which are safe and capable but not always enjoyable to fly.

“The VX4 was not only safe but was an absolute pleasure. It is responsive, smooth, simple to operate and the sound level from the propellers is quiet and pleasant in the cockpit. An honour to fly, and a real testament to the incredible team behind it.”

Industry experts believe the flying taxis could improve connectivity across the UK, with a journey from Brighton to Heathrow estimated to be just 20 minutes.

In March, US company Joby Aviation announced its collaboration with Virgin Atlantic which aims to offer “seamless, zero-emission, short-range journeys across the UK”, starting with hubs at Heathrow and Manchester Airport.

Joby’s electric air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds of up to 200mph.

Labour MP Alice Macdonald raised a scheme by Norwich Airport that aims to “make East Anglia the heart of aviation innovation” and invited the transport minister to “take a flight on an electric plane”.

Transport minister Mike Kane stressed to MPs earlier this month the government’s commitment to “maximise the benefits of future flight technologies, including flying taxis”.

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.

Raducanu felt ‘exposed’ by Swiatek in French Open thrashing

Emma Raducanu said she felt “exposed” by Iga Swiatek as the four-time French Open champion improved her winning record against the Briton to 5-0 with a one-sided 6-1, 6-2 victory at Roland Garros.

Raducanu said the nature of her latest defeat to Swiatek highlighted the “holes” in her game on clay and felt the difference in experience played a part during the second-round match. While Swiatek has won the last three titles in Paris, winning 23 matches in a row, Raducanu was playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier for the first time and struggled to assert herself.

“It was tough. I think in the beginning of the match it was pretty tight. As it went on, I think she grew in confidence. I just felt a bit exposed. It was a difficult one,” Raducanu said.

“It was the first time playing a match on that court. It’s also different when it’s filled and it’s got everything around. You do feel like it is a big court. And it’s different and it’s new for me.

“It’s a surrounding that she’s obviously very comfortable with and she’s played in it a lot of times. I think that did emphasise me feeling a bit uncomfortable. But it’s a good experience for if I ever play on that court again.”

Raducanu has now lost all five of her matches against Swiatek without winning a set. This was their first meeting since the Australian Open in January, where Swiatek dropped just one game in the 6-1, 6-0 win.

The 22-year-old Briton looked to take an aggressive approach from the opening stages, but Swiatek was able to dominate the baseline exchanges after first breaking her opponent in the fourth game and finished with 32 winners to Raducanu’s eight.

Swiatek had struggled for form coming into the French Open after not reaching a final since last year’s title-winning run at Roland Garros, but the 23-year-old’s heavy top-spin forehand remains a huge weapon.

“You just don’t really feel like there is that much space on the court, and certain moments you overhit, because you just feel constant pressure,” Raducanu explained.

“I definitely think I can improve certain areas of my game to maybe make me feel like I have less holes. I’m just going to try my best to work on that.”

Raducanu won just 35 per cent of points on her second serve, and had three break points when Swiatek’s level briefly dipped while leading 2-1 in the second set, but she could not take them.

Despite building a solid foundation on clay this season, Raducanu has now suffered heavy defeats to Swiatek and world No 2 Coco Gauff, who also won 6-1, 6-2 against the former US Open winner when they met in the Italian Open last 16.

“I think there were positives in the sense that I won a few matches on the surface,” Raducanu said. “It’s probably my first proper clay court season I’ve had and played through, and my last one was in 2022, so it’s been a long time since.

“I guess I’m pretty happy, considering at the beginning I felt really uncomfortable moving. I felt better. But I guess against the top in the world, I still have a long way to go, and it just highlights that.”

Raducanu said she did not want to hide away from the areas she needed to improve on as she turns her attention to the grass-court season and building up to Wimbledon, where she reached the last 16 in 2024.

“I don’t feel demotivated,” she added. “I feel like since Miami [where she reached the quarter-finals] I have really started building some momentum compared to where I came from at the start of the year, and it makes me just want to keep going after a couple days off and then get on the grass.”

Swiatek revealed that she had “lacked energy” in some of her matches recently, but said she had a “good time” against Raducanu and clearly enjoys playing her.

“Well, from the beginning, I knew what I wanted to do, so I just did it,” Swiatek said. “I had a good time on the court, and I felt the game pretty well, so I just went for it.

“There are players that just have the ball that it’s for some of us it’s a little bit easier, others don’t like it. You know, there are some players that you just kind of know what you’re going to do.”

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.

Thameslink passengers stuck for hours after electrical fault

Thameslink passengers have been left facing lengthy delays due to a major power outage between two London stations, with many commuters stuck for hours.

Issues were first reported at around 8pm due to an electric failure between London St Pancras and West Hampstead, with lines in both directions blocked.

Passengers have shared images on X, formerly known as Twitter, of their train carriages falling into darkness with some complaining that they had been waiting to be evacuated for over three hours.

A Thameslink spokesperson said: “If your train has come to a stand in between stations, please remain on board and do not attempt to leave the train unless directed to by a member of staff.

“We know where you are and we are working to get you on the move again shortly.”

The latest customer advice is that any Thameslink customer who has not yet started their journey should delay travelling until tomorrow, as no trains are able to run between London Blackfriars and Kentish Town until further notice.

“If you are travelling now, we cannot guarantee you will be able to reach your destination, and any journey you take will take at least 60 minutes longer than usual and will include using alternative transport operators through the central London area,” the train operator said.

Taking to social media, one disgruntled passenger said: “Why hasn’t anyone helped the people on the stranded train just outside Kentish Town station? They have been stuck on it for three hours with barely any information.”

Another said: “Why didn’t you evacuate us earlier, I missed my flight because of this. Complete clowns and disgraceful.”

For anyone planning on travelling to Gatwick Airport, they are advised to travel to London Victoria and use an alternative Southern or Gatwick Express service from there.

Police say they need more money to meet crime targets: are they right?

Leaders of six major police forces, including Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, have warned Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, against a repeat of “the retrenchment we saw under austerity”. They say that without more money, Labour’s missions of halving knife crime and halving violence against women and girls will not happen.

An article in The Times warning that “without investment there will be no restoration of the prevention-focused neighbourhood policing” was signed by Sir Mark, Gavin Stephens, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and the chief constables of Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire.

At the same time, Sir Mark has joined privately with the heads of MI5 and the National Crime Agency to warn Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, that her plans to release prisoners early could be a “net detriment to public safety”. They say they would need “necessary resources” to contain the risks to the public of the early release of dangerous criminals.

The negotiations for the spending review on 11 June are still in progress, with the Home Office and Department of Justice two of the departments that have yet to agree their budgets for the next four years with the Treasury.

It is not unusual at this stage of the discussions for interest groups to support their departments’ demands for more money with blood-curdling warnings of the terrible consequences of failure to secure the funds they want.

That said, the police have a strong case on both fronts. Labour made manifesto promises on crime that cannot be delivered on the cheap, and the early release scheme is bound to increase the risk to the public, however marginally.

No wonder the negotiations are going badly. It is reported that “some” secretaries of state are refusing to deal with Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who is traditionally in charge of spending discussions – they are insisting on taking their case directly to Rachel Reeves, the chancellor.

In the immortal words of Liam Byrne, the last chief secretary to the Treasury in a Labour government, “there is no money”. The spending “envelope” – the total – has been set and the announcement on 11 June is only on how it will be divided between departments.

To make matters worse, Reeves already has to find additional money since her last checkpoint, which was the spring statement in March. Then, just to stay within her fiscal rules, she announced savings of £5bn a year from the welfare budget.

Since then, the world economy has been threatened by Donald Trump’s trade war, and government borrowing has been higher than expected. On top of which, the prime minister has just announced a U-turn, restoring winter fuel payments to an unspecified number of pensioners, and Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, this week confirmed that the government was considering lifting the two-child limit on universal credit payments.

It is hard to see how Reeves can make her sums add up without more tax rises in the Budget in the autumn.

The most frightening word in the police chiefs’ article was “austerity”. Labour is well aware that George Osborne’s spending cuts to non-protected departments (anything that isn’t health, defence or schools) were damaging to the Conservatives in the 2017 election.

Police numbers fell by 8 per cent between the end of the last Labour government in 2010 and 2017. Theresa May responded to that disastrous election by reversing the trend: numbers had recovered by the election last year.

It seems unlikely that police budgets will be squeezed on 11 June by anything like what happened in the Osborne years – and the memory of how Labour used police cuts as a campaign issue against the Tories ought to guarantee that “austerity” on that scale does not happen again.