Holt McCallany: ‘I would never ever try to split the bill on a date’

To hear Holt McCallany reel off his childhood heroes is to understand him a little better. “Steve McQueen, Burt Lancaster, Bob Mitchum, Gene Hackman, Jack Palance,” the actor says. “I loved Jack Palance. Lee Marvin. Charles Bronson.” He recites each name with cinematic gravitas and through semi-pursed lips as though he’s balancing an invisible cigarette out the corner of his mouth. “Those guys, they had this classic American… masculinity.”

The same can and has been said of McCallany, who at 61 has carved a career out of that same strong, silent archetype. He’s played parts on both sides of the law, including one tough guy unironically named Bullet. Bit parts in early David Fincher films like Alien 3 and Fight Club introduced him as an excellent character actor, “that guy!” audiences are always happy to see, even if they may not know his name.

Fincher not only had his name, he had McCallany’s number, believing from the get-go that he was destined for bigger things, and eventually casting him as a lead in Mindhunter – the critically acclaimed Netflix neo-noir series about the FBI and serial killers. His performance as the straight-shooting, flat-top agent Bill Tench was so lauded, it inspired a think piece in Vulture titled: “Why Mindhunter’s Bill Tench Is So Lovable.” That article got to the crux also of what makes McCallany so, if not lovable, then watchable, because hand-in-hand with that stone-cold hardiness is an unexpected sensitivity. Flashes of openness where you’d expected a door slammed shut.

But McCallany downplays his part in the show’s success, attributing it instead to “the creative genius” behind the camera. He compares his role to that of a guest at a lavish dinner party: “There’s gorgeous tablecloths, beautiful crystal glasses, and delicious food. You just have to not spill food down your shirt and everybody goes, bravo!” It may sound like false humility, but in truth, there is a steely confidence to McCallany’s words: give him a good part, and he’ll do the rest.

Mindhunter opened more doors: doors that had other doors and windows behind them. He hasn’t had to audition since, which is, he reminds me, a big deal for someone who’s had to audition for every part in the 25 years before that. It was after watching the series that director Sean Durkin tapped McCallany to play the troubled patriarch of the Von Erich wrestling family in The Iron Claw. The awards chatter around his volcanic performance never materialised, but it was plain to see McCallany was due his moment.

Enter The Waterfront – his second lead role and venture with Netflix. Unlike Mindhunter, though, this series is more Netflix-coded: meaning soapy, silly and a great deal of fun. McCallany plays tough guy Harlan, head of the powerful Buckley family who preside over the sunny coastal town of Havenport. When the family biz runs into trouble, Harlan must regress to his shady drug-dealing past, triggering a tug-of-war with his reluctant son and apparent heir Cane (Jake Weary).

Among other questions, The Waterfront asks what it means to be a man. Harlan finds his kill-or-be-killed caveman mentality upended by Cane, who is more sensitive. Does McCallany think the show is saying something about masculinity in America? “Masculinity in America…” he repeats after me, as if seeing a film title in the making. “Wow, yeah it’s true that it is one of the things that I’m interested in exploring.”

For what it’s worth, McCallany seems to cleave closer to Harlan than Cane. His physicality plays into this, obviously – he is tall and broad, two things I can attest to even just seeing him in a desk chair over Zoom. His pale blue eyes are deep set, and he’s got a mean Clint-esque squint about him. His name itself connotes robustness perhaps because of its phonetic proximity to macho words like colt (meaning a male horse or an Old West revolver) and bolt (as in a metal screw). There’s an old-fashioned courtesy, too, in the way he repeats my name when answering questions.

“Chivalry is not dead for me,” McCallany says at one point. And that is, in no small part, down to his Irish mother who had more influence on her son than all the actors in the world. “God rest her soul, she was the person I loved most in the world,” he says. “She raised me to be a gentleman and that very much included things like opening a door for a lady, or pulling out her chair for her, and giving up a seat for an elderly person.” There are times he mourns the old way of life. “I feel we’ve lost a bit of that respect and elegance, which is a shame.” He’d never dream of taking a woman out on a date and going halves, he tells me. “My mother would’ve berated me for trying to split the bill with a lady.”

When his mother grew sick years ago, McCallany moved her into his studio loft bachelor pad in Tribeca. “A very impractical space to share with an elderly person,” he laughs. “But I didn’t want to put her into any kind of assisted living.” The two were close. There’s a video online of them singing cheek-to-cheek at the LA establishment The Gardenia. Before her death, they’d go out for dinner every week in Manhattan and she’d make him wear a jacket and tie. “I’d be the only guy in some little pizzeria wearing a tie,” he says. “But I didn’t care because she was happy. She had an old-fashioned notion about how gentlemen should conduct themselves and even though my father didn’t always live up to those things, she certainly instilled them in me.”

McCallany grew up between New York and Kildare, Ireland. His dad, a big believer in the traditional Irish schooling system, sent him to Catholic boarding school where he was regularly beaten by the priests in charge for being a “wise ass” before he was eventually expelled. (We don’t have time to get into it, but McCallany has previously said his role as The Mechanic in Fight Club was “cathartic” because it involved beating up a priest, which goes some way in shedding light on how he reflects on his time there.)

Performance was in his blood. His mother was a well-known cabaret singer at La Maisonette, a nightclub frequented by Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, and his father, an actor and producer best known for a Tony-winning production of Brendan Behan’s Borstal Boy about the IRA. To give you an idea of the kind of people his parents were, McCallany has two stories: the first is about his mum who, fed up with his alcoholic father and the 10 drinking buddies he brought from the bar one night, flung the record player out of the window before going back to bed.

The second is about his father (“not the kind of man to ever change diapers, but that’s just how it was back then”) and that tale goes back to his birth. His mother was in hospital while his father was a couple of blocks away watching the Jets at an Irish pub. He popped over and happened to arrive minutes before the birth of his first son. Up until his death, he said: “I knew that Holt would be a good guy because he had the class to be born at halftime.” Like all boys, McCallany worshipped his dad, whether or not he deserved it. “My father was a man who possessed all of those qualities we were talking about. He was a hero to me yet he was also a very heavy drinker and a guy who had deeply-held political views that I no longer share.”

When he was 14 and living back in New York, McCallany hopped on a Greyhound bus to LA to pursue his dreams of acting. When his dad eventually tracked him down, McCallany was not treading the boards as planned but unloading trucks in a factory job. He was sent packing back to Ireland. It was only after graduating high school that McCallany was allowed to make a proper go of it. His big screen break came in the early Nineties when he was offered the role of Junior in Fincher’s Alien 3 – a role he initially turned down.

Fincher’s first ever film was a notoriously troubled production, plagued so badly by studio interference that the director famously disowned it. It makes the movie a somewhat tricky topic to broach with certain actors, but not McCallany, who answers every question, no matter how mundane, in large blocks of text that can run up to seven minutes each. You’d think it was an avoidance tactic were he not equally loquacious on other more knotty subjects – likely to the alarm of his publicist.

“I’ll tell you absolutely everything,” he says about Alien 3. His girlfriend at the time was reluctant to let him leave for five months just to shoot one scene – a scene they both worried would damage his career: “In it, I have to rape Sigourney Weave and I was nervous about that because I was a young actor at the time with no resumé and Sigourney was the highest paid actresses in Hollywood.”

So he said no, only for Fincher to call him up at home. “He goes, ‘No, I’m going to use you in lots of scenes, man! Forget about what you’re reading in the script. I have ideas for your character,’” says McCallany, putting on the filmmaker’s California accent. And so he agreed. “It was that easy and true to his word, David used me constantly throughout the film.” When Alien 3 was released, though, his scenes (except for the rape one) ended up on the cutting room floor with much else. “That was very disappointing for David. But then he did Se7en and that was such an extraordinary piece of work that he never had that problem again.”

Incidentally, Fincher had wanted McCallany for a small part in Se7en, but the timing was wrong. Likewise for Panic Room with Jodie Foster; McCallany was meant to play the young cop. “Not to be spewing clichés but the most important thing is not how long it takes a man to get to his destination, but that he got there,” he says now – on the cusp of his directorial debut, a remake of the 1995 Italian film The Star Maker. He even got the Fincher stamp of approval. “He really seemed to respond to the material and gave me a lot of time and helped refine the script,” says McCallany. After 30 years working with Fincher, it’s a full-circle moment worthy of the screen.

All episodes of ‘The Waterfront’ are available to watch on Netflix now

Kate Middleton pulls out of Royal Ascot following cancer recovery

The Princess of Wales has pulled out of attending Royal Ascot as she continues to find the right balance following the completion of her cancer treatment.

Kate Middleton is said to be disappointed to miss the famous social and sporting occasion in Berkshire with her husband and the King and Queen.

Racegoers had been hoping to see Kate as Prince William hands out prizes on the second day of the meet, after King Charles and Queen Camilla enjoyed the racing on Tuesday.

Ascot officials had announced at 12pm that the princess would join William in the second carriage of the royal procession in a published carriage list. But less than half an hour later, Kensington Palace confirmed just before 12.30pm that Kate would not be attending.

Royal Ascot is an important date in the royal calendar, with members of the family attending as part of the royal procession. The royal procession is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year, having begun in 1825 during the reign of George IV, when the monarch was accompanied by the Duke of Wellington.

The princess’s absence follows a string of public engagements in recent days, including another highlight of the royal calendar, a service celebrating the Order of the Garter.

Kate, who missed last year’s event because she was being treated for cancer, watched the procession of Ladies and Knights of the Garter through the grounds of Windsor Castle to St George’s Chapel on Monday.

The princess also joined her three children, Charlotte, George and Louis, for Trooping the Colour in London on Saturday to mark the King’s official birthday.

It is understood she is trying to find the right balance as she fully returns to public engagements.

The princess revealed that her cancer had gone into remission earlier this year as she made a return to the public eye after a year of treatment, with a visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital, where she thanked the staff who provided her with “exceptional” care during her treatment.

In a message on social media, signed ‘C’, she said: “I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to The Royal Marsden for looking after me so well during the past year.

“My heartfelt thanks goes to all those who have quietly walked alongside William and me as we have navigated everything.

She paid tribute to the “exceptional” care and advice she received during her diagnosis, saying she and William “couldn’t have asked for more”.

Kate said in a video last September that while she had finished her preventative chemotherapy, her path to healing would take time.

She said: “Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes. I am, however, looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can.”

While she was still receiving treatment, the King, who has also been undergoing treatment for cancer, said he was “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did” and has “remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks”, after they spent time in hospital together.

The King continues to undergo treatment for cancer having revealed his own shock diagnosis last January – at the same time it emerged Kate was in hospital after her abdominal surgery.

Are viral matcha lattes making a mockery of this traditional drink?

Throw a stone anywhere in central London nowadays and you’re sure to hit someone holding a clear takeaway cup of vivid green matcha latte. The chances of the drink being from Blank Street Coffee are extremely high, and the chances of it being photographed or filmed are even higher, as matcha lattes are the It Girl drink of the moment, rendering them inescapable on TikTok and Instagram.

To say that iced matcha lattes are all the rage right now is an understatement. Interest in this particular type of green tea leaf has skyrocketed in the UK in recent years by as much as 200 per cent, according to retail figures, fuelled by the wellness boom that has us reaching for this antioxidant-rich caffeine alternative. The verdant green colour of the tea (think Brat, but a bit more mellow) is also highly appealing on social media, making it instantly photogenic and lending itself not just to drinks, but to matcha ice creams, matcha cakes, matcha cookies, and even matcha bread. But online trends are like a twisted Midas touch, warping things beyond recognition, and matcha is just the latest thing to have the authenticity sucked out of it.

Arguably, the high street chain that has pushed matcha lattes to new heights in the UK is Blank Street Coffee. The American chain opened its first store in London just two years ago, but it’s now almost as ubiquitous as Pret A Manger and Starbucks, its green storefront popping up on every corner in the city. Its reputation for serving matcha has preceded the brand so much that, despite being called Blank Street Coffee, searching for a branch on Google Maps shows you a description that reads: “Refreshing Matcha Drinks.”

Other chains have quickly jumped on the milky green bandwagon, introducing an array of bright and colourful matcha-based drinks to their menus. Pret serves its iced matcha latte over coconut milk, while Black Sheep Coffee’s sugar-packed matcha range includes flavours like peaches and cream, blueberries, and turmeric – the latter containing a staggering 37.5g of sugar. The rush to bring more matcha to a growing audience of snap-happy consumers has also reached smaller, independent coffee shops bidding to compete with the big boys.

Omar Shah, a restaurateur and CEO of the Maginhawa Group, recently launched his Filipino bakery, Cafe Mama & Sons in Kentish Town. His initial focus was serving up great coffee and Filipino-inspired foods, but he quickly clocked that getting matcha on the menu was crucial for business. The cafe now sells a range of layered matcha drinks with popular Filipino ingredients like ube, mango and Milo. “We sell more matcha now than coffee,” Shah says. “Everywhere is just matcha. We had just one matcha drink until six months ago, when we realised we had to introduce more options because of how trendy it is.”

Shah points to how easy it was to incorporate matcha into the cafe’s menu as another reason for why so many shops are now leaning on it. “Coffee is an expensive endeavour,” he says. “The equipment sets you back thousands of pounds, and the maintenance can get just as expensive. Then there’s training your staff, which takes time, and training them how to perfect the microfoam for a flat white is worth it. But it’s also costly. Matcha, on the other hand, is relatively simple to prepare, in the sense that it comes in powder form that is whisked with hot water. We whisk it to order, but places don’t even bother, they just make a big batch and add it to the drinks.”

There is a big difference between the quality and type of matcha you’re getting on the high street and what you would get in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, a practice that originated in China but has been a permanent part of Japanese culture since the 12th century. Matcha is a specific species of tea plant, grown in shade to give it its bright green colour and savoury flavour. After picking, the tea leaves are steamed, dried and ground into a very fine powder.

Japan, where most matcha is produced, also has strict food labelling standards that must be adhered to before a product can even call itself “matcha”. Authentic matcha must be of the Camellia sinensis variety that has been shade-grown for two to three weeks before harvesting, and it has to have been steamed and dried without being rolled to protect the tender leaves. Keiko Uchida, a master of chado (the way of tea) for over 25 years, says most customers buying matcha lattes are actually getting green tea powder, which is a much cheaper and less strictly regulated product.

“Green tea powder is much easier and quicker to produce than matcha, so it’s cheaper but it also tastes more bitter,” she explains. This is why some people who try plain matcha lattes complain about the taste. Making green tea with boiling hot water can enhance this unpleasant flavour, but cafes trying to fulfil a tsunami of matcha orders won’t necessarily be paying attention. Instead, the syrups and fruit purees beloved by social media users mask the acrid taste, but boost sugar content in a drink otherwise perceived as healthy, and therefore negate the high levels of cancer-fighting polyphenols and antioxidant-rich catechins found in the tea. Studies suggest that matcha may have the potential to slow cancer growth and improve heart health, though further research is needed in this area.

Uchida says that there have been conversations in Japan around giving matcha a status similar to that of champagne, under which the term “champagne” can only be used for sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France. “The demand for matcha has gone up so much that there was a matcha shortage recently,” she adds. “I think it would be good to give it this type of status. Otherwise, any old green tea can be called matcha but people outside of Japan won’t know any better.”

The matcha shortage arose last autumn as unprecedented demand for the green stuff soared globally. Within Japan, tea companies imposed buying limits on tins of matcha powder, while the government is reportedly planning to introduce subsidies to encourage tea growers to produce more tencha, which means tea for grinding, to meet and cash in on the demand for coveted matcha lattes. But all the hype around showy, multicoloured matcha drinks means many customers have no idea how matcha is traditionally prepared or enjoyed.

Japan House in Kensington says sales of matcha from its tea stand have increased by more than a third since 2023. But, while the stand primarily offers matcha prepared in a way as close to the traditional method as possible, it has experienced a rise in customers requesting syrups or honey to sweeten the drink. They are “taken aback” when told they only prepare matcha the way it is typically done in Japan, which is to say with no sweeteners other than sugar syrup. Japan House adds that many customers think matcha always comes with milk because of how trendy matcha lattes have become, which means the team now checks how people want their drink to avoid misunderstanding.

In some ways, the matcha boom has made this deeply traditional drink unrecognisable. But modern-day Japan has also lost some of its connection to matcha, says Sarah Stewart, a tea practitioner for over 20 years. “A lot of Japanese people I talk to admit they don’t know anything about chado, and there’s a sense of insecurity about it,” she explains. “There’s actually not very many places you can go and just drink Japanese green tea, matcha or otherwise, compared to the number of fancy coffee shops there are. There needs to be a place where people can enjoy matcha, which doesn’t have to be a tea room or within the study of chado.”

In fact, the consumption of matcha in Japan has been declining for several decades, as preferences among modern Japanese people shift. However, the matcha latte phenomenon is gaining some ground there, too, which could help give people a more accessible, everyday way of enjoying the tea. But it depends on which way the trend goes, Stewart warns.

“If the matcha trend is here to stay and we’re going to continue to see an evolution of appreciation of it, then this could be a good first step,” she says. But, and there’s always a but, “as we know with any TikTok or Instagram trend, if it’s more about the appearance or the wellness factor, the worry is that matcha will be the hot thing for the next six months and then something else will take over”.

“My hope is it will be here to stay and we see the same kind of evolution we saw for the appreciation of fine artisanal coffee, where you can now go into dozens of coffee shops that will tell you the origin of the beans, who the farmer was … you’re not adding a ton of sugar and flavoured syrups to be able to enjoy that and really appreciate it as a gourmet experience.”

Shah also believes there’s the potential for deeper interest in matcha and its heritage. “Matcha is going to be bastardised beyond recognition in the short term. That’s already happening,” he admits. “But there’s going to be a growing group of people who are going to get really nerdy about it, and will spark interest and creativity around matcha. I don’t see it going anywhere for some time.”

Rabies warning as UK grandmother dies after scratch by dog in Morocco

A British grandmother has died from rabies four months after being scratched “very slightly” by a puppy in Morocco.

Yvonne Ford came into contact with the dog in February but gradually became more unwell over the past two weeks, first developing a headache, before she was left unable to walk, talk, sleep or swallow.

Her family have now appealed to holidaymakers to protect themselves against the disease.

Her daughter, Robyn Thomson, said: “We never thought something like this could happen to someone we love. Please take animal bites seriously, vaccinate your pets, and educate those around you.”

Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, thought nothing of it when she was scratched on a trip to north Africa, Ms Thomson said.

She wrote on Facebook: “Our family is still processing this unimaginable loss, but we are choosing to speak up in the hope of preventing this from happening to others.

“Yvonne Ford, Ron Ford’s wife and our Mum, died of rabies. She was scratched very slightly by a puppy in Morocco in February. At the time, she did not think any harm would come of it and didn’t think much of it.

“Two weeks ago she became ill, starting with a headache and resulted in her losing her ability to walk, talk, sleep, swallow. Resulting in her passing.”

Ford died in Sheffield last Wednesday, according to Sheffield Coroner’s Court, where an inquest was opened and adjourned a week later.

Ms Thomson wrote that her mother was “the heart of our family – strong, loving and endlessly supportive”.

She added: “No words can fully capture the depth of our loss or the impact she had on all of us. We are heartbroken, but also grateful for every moment we had with her.”

And she warned: “Even a minor scratch or bite from an infected animal – wild or domestic – can transmit the virus. If you are ever bitten or scratched, seek medical attention immediately. Post-exposure prophylaxis vaccines can save your life.”

Ford was diagnosed with rabies at Barnsley Hospital, and government officials said health workers and people who had close contact with her were being assessed as a precautionary measure and being offered vaccinations where necessary.

Her daughter said she was sharing information about rabies to raise awareness, especially how it is preventable through prompt medical care after exposure.

Rabies is passed on through bites and scratches from an infected animal, or if an infected animal licks a person’s eyes, nose, mouth or a wound.

It is nearly always fatal, but post-exposure treatment is very effective at preventing disease if given promptly after exposure to the virus, health chiefs say.

Ford is the first person in the UK to die from rabies contracted overseas since 2018. The last victim was bitten by a cat while on holiday in Morocco.

Before that, the last reported case of rabies in the UK was in 2012, when a British grandmother died after being bitten by a dog during a holiday to India.

Katherine Russell, head of emerging infections and zoonotic diseases at the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “I would like to extend my condolences to this individual’s family.

“If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal in a country where rabies is found, you should wash the wound or site of exposure with plenty of soap and water and seek medical advice without delay in order to get post-exposure treatment to prevent rabies.

“There is no risk to the wider public in relation to this case. Human cases of rabies are extremely rare in the UK, and worldwide there are no documented instances of direct human-to-human transmission.”

Over the past 25 years, there have been just seven UK cases of human rabies linked with animal exposures abroad, all of whom died.

Once a person begins showing signs and symptoms, it’s nearly always fatal.

The first symptoms are similar to flu, while later symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, agitation, anxiety, difficulty swallowing and excessive saliva.

Information on rabies and bites – both animal and human – were among the top of the list for NHS advice being sought at Christmas 2023.

A UKHSA spokesperson said: “What’s happened is incredibly tragic so we want to make sure people are aware of the risks before they travel.

“There is a vaccine you can have before you go but even if you’ve been vaccinated, if you are bitten or scratched you should still wash the wound and seek medical attention as soon as possible.”

According to the World Health Organisation, rabies is estimated to kill around 59,000 people a year in more than 150 countries, with 95 per cent of cases in Africa and Asia.

However, the UN health agency states that this is likely to be a vast underestimate, and notes that poorer rural populations are particularly affected, while around half of all cases occur in children below the age of 15.

There were an average of 18 reported deaths linked to rabies each year in Morocco over the decade to 2022, WHO data suggests.

SpaceX Starship rocket explodes in dramatic fireball

A SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas exploded on Wednesday night, sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky.

The company said the Starship “experienced a major anomaly” while on the test stand preparing for the tenth flight test at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas.

Starship is the most powerful rocket ever made, and SpaceX hopes that it will eventually carry humans to the Moon and Mars. But first it must conduct a series of uncrewed tests – the latest of which was expected to happen as soon as this month.

In advance of that test, SpaceX has conducted a series of tests of the Starship spacecraft as well as the booster engines that are due to carry it to space. The latest was a static fire test, in which the engines are turned on but the spacecraft stays attached to the ground, but it exploded as preparations were being made.

“A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” SpaceX said in a statement on the social platform X.

“Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials. There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.”

It is unclear how much damage the explosion has done to the testing facilities and SpaceX’s facilities near Starbase, its Texas town.

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What’s the secret to a truly stress-free holiday?

High-end cruising has entered a new era. Today’s luxury travellers aren’t looking for big flashy experiences. They want slow-paced, intimate travel and authentic cultural immersion. More than anything else, they’re looking for ease: that feeling of being genuinely cared for, safe in the knowledge that they’re experiencing the best of the best.

That means excellent quality food and drink, of course – it’s got to be restaurant standard and cater to all tastes – but also onboard enrichment experiences of the highest calibre. The great beauty of cruising has always been that not a second is wasted. Savvy travellers get to explore a rich and rewarding variety of exotic, off-the-beaten track locations, but instead of spending half their holiday stuck in motorway traffic, they’re honing their swing in the golf net, or sipping on a cocktail on the upper deck as they travel from destination to destination.

When they’re onshore they want genuinely immersive experiences that get them under the hood of a destination: think cellar tours of local vineyards or speedboat cruises to hidden beaches. Done right, a high-end all-inclusive cruise is the ideal form of slow travel, offering a perfect balance of adventure and indulgence, proper pampering and a thrilling sense of discovery.

The world’s most luxurious fleet

First among equals when it comes to the new era of luxury cruising is Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which offers more than 170 different itineraries visiting over 550 ports of call worldwide. Each of the six ships in their fleet is opulently appointed with beautifully designed communal areas and a huge array of amenities, but none of them has a capacity of more than 746 guests, ensuring space and freedom for all aboard.

The all-suite accommodation means that the private spaces are similarly roomy, each having a private balcony and marble bathroom. And service is always impeccable with a crew-to-guest ratio that’s nearly one-to-one, meaning that the team can always go that mile extra for all travellers.

Across the ships, the food is uniformly excellent. As well as Regent’s signature Compass Rose restaurant, with its daily changing menu of bistro classics like lobster bisque and New Zealand lamb chops, the different ships also feature a range of speciality dining venues. These include Prime 7, a New York-style steakhouse, Pacific Rim with its pan-Asian menu (be sure to try the miso black cod), and fine-dining destination, Chartreuse, where the chefs turn out sophisticated plates of upscale French cooking like Beef Tenderloin Rossini and Seared Foie Gras.

With a number of long cruises on their roster, Regent has made sure that each of its ships is akin to an ultra-luxury, boutique floating hotel with an incredible variety of things to do during the day and top-level entertainment at night. There are courts for paddle tennis and bocce, and the onboard spa offers a range of exclusive bespoke treatments. The ships host talks by experts in their field and cooking lessons are also available on some of the ships at the culinary arts kitchens where visiting chefs guide guests in how to make wow-factor dishes that relate to the ports of call. In the evening, the Constellation Theatre hosts lavishly staged productions from a team of Broadway choreographers and artists.

Destinations that match the onboard luxury

Of course, none of this onboard luxury would mean much if the destinations weren’t up to scratch, but Regent’s superbly curated itineraries are up there with the very best. Its week-long trips include culture-packed European tours like Glories of Iberia which sails from Barcelona to Lisbon, and thrilling frontier explorations such as the Great Alaskan Adventure from Whittier to Vancouver.

Longer trips include four-week Legendary Journeys from Athens to Montreal, and fully immersive explorations of the Arctic. Long or short, these itineraries are all underpinned by a commitment to taking guests right to the heart of a destination with the kind of bespoke onshore activities and expert-led insights that mean on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises voyage, adventure is guaranteed.

Visit Regent Seven Seas Cruises now to uncover the true meaning of luxury and start booking your ultimate stress-free getaway

Rule change to bring £150 winter energy discount to millions

Around two million more people will receive an automatic discount on their energy bills this winter as Labour confirms the expansion of an annual scheme.

Around six million people in total will now receive the Warm Home Discount, taking £150 directly off their energy bills.

This includes 900,000 families with children and 1.8 million households in fuel poverty, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said.

The government’s Warm Home Discount scheme was introduced in 2011 and delivers a £150 cut to domestic energy bills for qualifying recipients. The one-off discount is applied automatically to an energy bill between October and March.

To be eligible for the payment in England and Wales, the bill payer must either receive the guarantee credit element of pension credit or be on a low income.

Before the announcement, those in the latter category were also required to have a home with “high energy costs”, as assessed by DESNZ. This critera has now been removed, unlocking the discount for millions more.

The payment does not need to be applied for, as energy providers are obligated to pass on the discount to their eligible customers automatically.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I know families are still struggling with the cost of living, and I know the fear that comes with not being able to afford your next bill.

“Providing security and peace of mind for working people is deeply personal to me as prime minister and foundational for the Plan for Change. I have no doubt that, like rolling out free school meals, breakfast clubs and childcare support, extending this £150 energy bills support to millions more families will make a real difference.”

The positive news for households comes before energy regulator Ofgem drops its energy price cap for July to September by 7 per cent. The average annual bill will decrease from £1,849 to £1,720.

In May, ministers decided to partially reverse changes made to the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners last year. Separate to the Warm Home Discount, this payment is made to eligible pensioners to help towards energy bills.

In previous years, it was paid to all pensioners, but restricted to just the very poorest in 2024. It will now be paid to all pensioners below a taxable income threshold of £35,000 following the latest changes.

A political blame game over HS2 failures – but who is right?

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, was determined to blame the Conservatives when she announced that what is left of the High Speed Two rail project will be delayed again.

“I have to be honest,” she told the Commons on Wednesday, “this is an appalling mess.” She demanded that Gareth Bacon, her mild-mannered Conservative shadow, apologise, saying that his party had promised people “the Moon on a stick” but had left a “shambles” for Labour to sort out.

She said: “Years of mismanagement and neglect have turned HS2 into a shadow of that vision put forward 15 years ago, but this government were elected on a mandate to restore trust to our politics, and that is why we will not shirk away from this challenge and why today we turn the page on infrastructure failures.”

I remember being in Andrew Adonis’s office when he was secretary of state for transport in 2009. He was his usual hyper-enthusiastic self as he showed me a map on the wall of his plan for a second high-speed railway in Britain. He was so excited about it, and only briefly crestfallen when I said that I thought it was a bad idea.

I asked why it would not simply increase the gravitational pull of London, and add to economic bias to the South East. He brushed aside such concerns, declaring that, on the contrary, HS2 would push economic development outwards from the capital and spread the benefits to the whole country – a full decade before Boris Johnson popularised the term “levelling up”.

What I should have said, I now realise, is that it was bound to cost much more than he expected, because he would be trying to put the first new rail route through England since the population had achieved modern levels of density and modern levels of litigiousness.

It could have been managed better. If only Adonis had remained in charge of it, I think it would have been managed better, despite being, in my view, fundamentally misconceived.

I am in awe of Adonis’s achievement. He was transport secretary for just 23 months at the end of a dying government, yet he managed to launch HS2 in that time with such momentum that the coalition government carried on with it.

But it never had a messianic delivery leader after the change of government, so it trundled along like a late-running stopper under the default structures of the British constitution. There were seven transport secretaries in the 14 years of Conservative-led government, while the civil service contracted out the management to HS2 Ltd, which was responsible for cost overruns, delays and even fraud.

It could be argued that Rishi Sunak did the right thing, rather late in the day, to try to curtail the excess and waste. He looked at the plans in some detail, concluded that the case for the line didn’t add up, and took the difficult decision to cut losses and cancel the northern leg.

According to the House of Commons Library, the costs for the first phase, from London to Birmingham, had already risen from an estimate in 2012 of £20.5bn (in 2019 prices) to an estimate at the beginning of last year of £56bn (still in 2019 prices).

The library commented drily: “Cost increases have been driven by high inflation, as well as scope changes, worse ground conditions than expected, and optimism bias.” It didn’t even mention bat tunnels.

Of course not, although if the delay to completion of Phase 1 is only from 2033 to 2035 that would not be too bad – 2033 was the target completion date when Adonis launched the project in 2010.

But the final part of the route in London, to Euston station, which is important to the success of the line, has not been decided yet, and will depend on private-sector investment in the property above and around the route.

One of the possible hopeful signs, however, is that Alexander has relevant experience as deputy mayor of London responsible for transport. She has worked with Mark Wild and Mike Brown, the new chief executive and chair of HS2. “Mark and Mike were part of the team, with me, that turned Crossrail into the Elizabeth line; we have done it before and we will do it again,” she told MPs.