Graham Linehan says he may never come back to Britain after arrest

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has said he may never return to Britain as he told of being arrested at Heathrow Airport.

The 57-year-old Irish comedy writer was arrested after flying in from Arizona on Monday over three posts he had made on X about transgender issues.

Linehan, who now lives in the United States, told The Times: “What happened to me on Monday was almost the perfect finale to my time in the UK.

“I decided to leave Britain because it really is impossible for me to stay. I just don’t have freedom of speech in this country.

“I am just so happy in America … I don’t think I’ll ever come back to Britain.”

Linehan, who has separately appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court over the past few days accused of harassing transgender activist Sophia Brooks, said Met officers arresting him at the airport was “the greatest mistake they could have made”.

He said he was stopped by five armed police officers, although it is understood this is because they were from the Met’s Aviation unit and routinely carry firearms.

He was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence in posts on X.

In a clip published online, Linehan can be heard reacting with disbelief as he is stopped by officers.

He tells one officer: “I’m a f****** comedy writer, I wrote Father Ted. Are you a f****** idiot?… It’s just disgraceful.”

When told he is under arrest, he shouts: “Holy shit, I don’t f****** believe it, do you know what this country looks like to America?,” before repeating “I’m going to sue you into the ground” several times.

He calls the officers “f****** bastards” and shouts “how dare you” before they urge him to calm down.

Following the arrest, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said his officers should not be “policing toxic culture wars debates” and had been left in an impossible position implementing the law as it stands.

Linehan has denied one count of harassing Sophia Brooks on social media between 11-27 October 2024, and a further charge of criminal damage of Ms Brooks’ mobile phone on 19 October 2024.

The trial was adjourned and will resume on 29 October, with Linehan released on bail.

British couple killed in Lisbon funicular pictured before tragedy

A British couple killed in a funicular crash in Lisbon on Wednesday have been named as Kayleigh Gillian Smith and her boyfriend William Nelson.

The pair were in the carriage of the Gloria funicular that derailed and careered down a hill before smashing into a hotel in the heart of the Portuguese capital’s tourist district.

Smith, 36, a theatre director, and Nelson, 44, a lecturer, died alongside an 82-year-old British man, and 13 others. A further 22 were injured, five of whom remain in serious condition in hospital.

The couple were from Cheshire and on holiday in Lisbon.

Hours before their deaths, they shared pictures of themselves smiling at popular tourist sites including Sao Jorge castle.

MADS Theatre in Macclesfield posted a tribute on Friday night saying: “It is with great sadness that we must acknowledge the death of Kayleigh Smith and her partner Will Nelson in the Lisbon funicular tragedy.

“Kayleigh was a valued member of our society and made considerable contributions both to MADS and to drama in the North West. It is indeed a sad loss to all of us at the theatre.”

In a statement, Cheshire Police said they were supporting the families of two residents of the North West area following the tragedy.

They added formal identification had not yet taken place.

A Cheshire Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that two of the individuals who died following the funicular incident in Lisbon are believed to be residents from North West area.

“While formal identification is yet to take place, the families of the two individuals, a 44-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman, have been notified and are being supported by specialist officers at this time.

“The families have requested for their privacy to be respected.”

The Gloria funicular, which is 140 years old, was packed with passengers when it came off the rails killing five Portuguese nationals, three British citizens, two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French, one Swiss and one Ukrainian.

Portugal’s prime minister Luis Montenegro described the incident as “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past”.

Investigations are underway into the cause of the crash, with the government’s office for air and rail accident investigations saying it has completed its analysis of the wreckage. It is expected to release a preliminary report next week.

A No 10 spokesperson said prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is “deeply saddened” that three British nationals died.

He went on: “His thoughts are with their families and those affected by this terrible incident. We stand united with Portugal during this difficult time.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the families of three British nationals who have died following an incident in Lisbon, and are in contact with the local authorities.”

‘I’ve lived in UK for 45 years – but the NHS didn’t believe me and charged me £500 for appointment’

A 73-year-old said she was put through “three months of hell” by the NHS after they challenged her right to live in the UK and sent her a charge for a routine health appointment.

Soisic Calland, who is a French national, has lived in Scunthorpe for some 45 years and has long-term residency status in the UK. Despite giving birth to three children at Scunthorpe general hospital, she said that she was interrogated by staff about her immigration status when she went to an appointment there with a Rheumatology consultant in April this year.

She was in some pain and waiting to be seen by a doctor when she was called over by an admin worker and questioned about her visa status, she explained. “I was almost in tears and I was very near walking out. My husband, who was with me made me stay, and I did see the consultant in the end.

“I was taken into a corner and I was in pain and interrogated and told to shut up. The hospital worker didn’t want the documents that I was giving her. It felt like she was determined to make me pay”.

The hospital said they did not accept this description of Ms Callard’s interactions with staff and said it was for patients to prove their eligibility to free NHS care.

Ms Callard said she provided her biometric residency card, which is given to EU nationals who have been living in the UK since before 1989 through the Windrush scheme. Foreign nationals like Ms Callard who are settled in the UK, what’s known as being ordinarily resident, are entitled to free NHS care.

After the transition to digital visas at the end of last year, Ms Callard set up an online UKVI account, which is used to demonstrate her immigration status in the UK.

The hospital wanted to see a council tax bill from after Brexit in 2021, but wouldn’t initially accept the bill, which had her husband’s name on it, Ms Callard said. Full council tax bills are based on at least two adults living in the home, and spouses who live together are jointly responsible for paying the bill.

She said that when her and her husband got home from the appointment they rang up their local council for help. “The council couldn’t understand what we wanted, and why the hospital wanted it. But they put us through to the electoral registration department who were helpful and provided proof that I have been at our home address since at least 2016.

“However that was also refused. I gave the hospital my biometric card, driving licence, phone bill, bank statements, and my GHIC card [a card provided by the NHS to UK residents to allow them to access emergency treatment in Europe]. I couldn’t provide any household bills because they were in my husband’s name.

“Nothing was good enough. Then in August I got sent a proforma invoice for £536.02. I couldn’t understand what I had been charged for. It was very threatening.

“Then suddenly, after all that, they accepted the council tax bill.”

The proforma invoice said that “payment is due immediately” but that “final costings [are] to be confirmed”. It added that “the hospital takes action to recover unpaid debt”, and warned that outstanding debt may impact future immigration applications.

The hospital said that they send a proforma invoice when they have not received the relevant documents confirming eligibility for free NHS treatment. They said that national policy requires patients to show proof of ordinary residence in the UK, and they were able to confirm this after the council tax bill was supported by a letter from the council.

The three months of back and forth have caused her a lot of stress, Ms Callard said. “I’ve had endless sleepless nights. My blood pressure shot up. I felt like I wasn’t wanted in England. I had three months of hell and I don’t want anyone to go through the same. I would like to avoid this situation happening to other people, who might not be fluent in English, and who don’t have the background that I’ve had.”

Ms Callard, who has a French passport, said she has not applied for a British passport because it costs thousands of pounds to become a British citizen, something she doesn’t want to spend her pension money on.

She added: “It was very distressing for my husband and I because we were wondering every day what was going to come next, and what threats we were going to have”.

A spokesperson for Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust said: “We follow the stringent guidelines set out in the Department of Health’s Overseas Charging Regulations which we are legally obliged to follow to ensure that only those people who are not eligible to free NHS care receive an invoice. Patients can raise a concern with our Patient Advice and Liaison Service, so if she requires any further assistance, they will be able to help her”.

Andreea Dumitrache, from civil rights group The3million, said: “No one should face this level of harassment or denial of healthcare in the country they call home, least of all elderly citizens who have built their lives here. Soisic’s experience of repeated questioning, despite her obvious lawful residence, is a Kafkaesque nightmare, trapped in a bureaucratic maze that refuses to acknowledge basic rights.

“This is a shameful example of how the hostile environment continues to harm those who should be protected. We urge the government and institutions like the NHS to implement proper training and accountability, so that EU citizens are no longer treated as second-class.”

Police have ‘no choice’ but to arrest Palestine Action supporters

Policing protests in London will cost at least £10m this month, the Metropolitan Police have revealed ahead of a weekend of action, including a major rally in support of Palestine Action.

Deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan has said the force has “no choice” but to arrest protesters who defy terror laws by showing support for the banned group.

Up to 1,000 people are expected to take part in a peaceful demonstration in Parliament Square on Saturday in support of the direct-action group holding signs saying: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

It comes after more than 500 were arrested at a similar protest last month, forcing police to operate a street bail system as they handcuffed hundreds of protesters.

Mr Adelekan warned any attempt to overwhelm policing “absolutely will not work” as he said the forces have all the resources they need to carry out mass arrests if required.

“I’ll just make it absolutely clear to you, and I make no reservations about this, if anyone shows support for Palestine Action – an offense under the Terrorism Act – they will get arrested,” he said.

“There’s no doubt about that. We have the officer numbers, we have the custody capacity and all the resources to process as many people as is required.”

He revealed the force has access to contingency cells outside of London if needed.

Detective chief superintendent Helen Flanagan, head of operations for the Met’s counterterrorism command, urged those thinking of showing support for Palestine Action to “think again”.

“We will investigate and prosecute all we suspect of committing offences under Terrorism Act,” she said, adding that many of those arrested at previous demonstrations are now facing the “stark reality” of facing a potential terror conviction.

On Friday, the protest organisers Defend Our Juries said it had sent a letter to Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley ahead of the protest at 1pm today in Westminster, urging him to tell his officers not to arrest the protesters.

It said police forces in Edinburgh, Totnes, Derry and Kendall had all decided not to arrest sign-holders.

The letter said: “You do not need to endlessly repeat the embarrassing charade of arresting people who are acting peacefully and lawfully in front of the world’s press, bringing policing into disrepute.

“As the hundreds start to become thousands, maybe it’s time to put a cap on your losses and give your hardworking and overstretched men and women some well-deserved rest?”

Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in June.

It means showing support for the direct action group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The Home Office is set to appeal against the High Court ruling allowing Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori to proceed with a legal challenge against the government over the group’s ban.

Saturday’s protest comes after what the Met has described as a “particularly busy” summer of protests amid heightened tensions over the conflict in Gaza, the proscription of Palestine Action and the debate around the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

A separate march by Palestine Coalition is due to start in central London at midday, while Sunday will see a National March Against Antisemitism in the capital.

The Met said they have used 62,829 officer shifts to police protests in the last three months alone, with a further 19,461 officer shifts anticipated in September.

A “conservative” estimate of the cost to the force is £10m this month, Mr Adelekan said.

Downton snobbery: Meghan’s biggest crime was always being American

As the curtain comes down after 15 years of Downton mania with the release of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, there is a striking sense of end-of-an-era poignancy. The film, set in 1930, captures a fast-vanishing world before it dissolves into modern uncertainty. Yet, along with sepia-edged nostalgia for a bygone age of dignity and old-fashioned formality, there is also one area where little has changed during the last century.

The film is steeped in anti-American sentiment among the “upstairs class”, which holds true today. At one point, Lady Mary, now a divorcee, exclaims: “Golly, a house full of Yanks and I’m the one keeping everyone away.” She has been told that an intended dinner party at Downton can not go ahead, as no one will come, knowing that she is divorced.

Amid the aristocracy, twas ever thus. Being American, which, to the faded grandeur of the old English monied classes, screams being brash, flash and vulgar, has always been socially less acceptable than being a divorcee.

The British upper classes continue to hold their noses at the stench of “new money” while often marrying wealthy American heiresses to fund their crumbling castles and stately piles. (Which is exactly what happens in Downton Abbey – Lord Grantham married an American heiress, Cora Levinson, to secure his stately home.)

Cash for cachet is somehow still seen as a respectable social contract, however archaic. Unless you are American. Then it is merely regarded as “cashing in”. Which is what our American duchess, Meghan Markle, stands accused of by using her British title to promote her As Ever brand. Although she denies using the HRH for commercial gain, she has a vast lure in that department.

It is almost impossible for an American to grasp how profoundly the British frown on their sunny commercialism, their gusty “can-do” attitude and freedom of spirit. When Meghan said in her engagement interview with Prince Harry about getting stuck in her work and being “excited to just really get to know more about the different communities here”, you could almost hear the sucking in of breath across inherited land.

Understandably, she could not grasp that her enthusiasm was not welcome. To the laconic upper classes and rigid, rule-bound royal family, anything that smacks of being pushy, or God forbid, self-serving, is in unforgivable bad taste.

By Meghan’s own analysis, she explained in a magazine interview to The Cut that she believed her problems stemmed from being an American and “not necessarily a Black American”.

As much as we may want to pretend that Britain is a progressive, classless modern culture, entrepreneurialism is still viewed as gauche in the upper classes, built on a system which depends on birthright. Nowhere has the lip curling snarl of the British towards American women been more apparent – and hurtful – than to our American Duchesses. Both Meghan Markle and her predecessor, Wallis Simpson, who became the Duchess of Windsor, (King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 in order to marry her), have experienced unprecedented vilification at the hands of an unrelenting public and monarchy.

What Wallis referred to as her “American independence of spirit” counted far more against her than any perceived character default. As Prince Harry returns home to England next week, we are reminded of his wife’s ostracism as he travels alone. Even if he is welcomed back by his father, it is unlikely the same olive branch will be extended to his wife.

After the abdication in 1937, when the world turned on Wallis, she wrote to Edward that the previous night she had cried herself to sleep. “I really can’t continue to carry on with all of England taking cracks at me and no decent society speaking to me.”

The society designer Nicky Haslam, who knew Wallis in New York in the 1960s, said of her social ostracism: “It was never about her being a divorcee. It was always about her being an American. That is why she was not accepted in English society.”

Even Edward VIII was derided among his own family for being a fan of all things American. His father, King George V, deplored his son’s love of American modernity – fast cars, jazz music and American women. He asked Edward in 1932 if he had ever thought of marrying “a suitable well-born English girl”. Edward had not. According to historian Hugo Vickers, Edward “liked these married women and he loved Americans. The prince loved golfing pros and tycoons. He thought that English girls were boring and thought that zinging cocktail girls were what he liked.”

It was considered equally singular when, in the spring of 1936, as King Edward bought an American station wagon, a car almost unheard of in England. One afternoon, he suggested to Wallis that they drive to visit his brother, Bertie (then the Duke of York) and Bertie’s wife, Elizabeth (the Queen Mother).

Marion Crawford, the Scottish governess of the York’s children – our late Queen Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret – witnessed this visit to Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, where Prince Andrew now lives. Of Wallis, Crawford wrote with biting understatement: “She was a smart, attractive woman, already middle-aged, but with that immediate friendliness that American women have. She appeared to be entirely at her ease; if anything, rather too much so.”

Wallis later said: “I left with the distinct impression that while the Duke of York was sold on the American station wagon, the duchess was not sold on David’s other American interest.”

If Wallis and Meghan had been British, who knows how history might have played out? We only have to look at how Queen Camilla, also a divorcee and once reviled by the British public, has become a much-respected national treasure. Like Simpson, Camilla was also the mistress of a tenacious Prince of Wales who refused to give her up. Like Camilla, Wallis displayed iron-clad loyalty to her royal husband, yet their legacies could not be more different.

George Bernard Shaw famously said, “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” Given the experience of the last century, it seems unlikely that we will be speaking the same language any time soon.

“There is reverse snobbery in the US against Brits like me”, writes Flora Warshaw, who lives and works in New York.

“While the stereotype of American exclusion in English society still rings true, I will say the same goes for British exclusion on the other side of the pond.

“Having lived in New York for over a year now – moving for graduate school and to work in the media – I am pretty settled. I possess not only a social security number, but American friends and an American boyfriend, much to my mother’s chagrin. Yet while America doesn’t grapple with the complex class system in the same way the UK does, there is still an air of superiority in their constant need for me to say ‘water bottle’.

“The English snobbiness over an American accent makes sense: it’s all we have to lord over them. So why, a year on, am I made to feel a constant sense of ostracism in a classless society that doesn’t need the mocking upper hand like we do?

“Oddly, Americans feel the need to justify to me the beauty of their monarch-free republic, coupled with bragging of their triumphant Declaration of Independence in 1776, because let’s be honest, when tallying up who is the more successful counterpart in our special relationship, the Brits don’t stand a chance, even if we do have the Beatles, Beckham, and better chocolate.

“To the average American, I am still the 24-year-old equivalent of Mary Poppins. Yet I find my Englishness diminishing by the day, either through subtle codeswitching demonstrated in elongating my R’s, referring to it as a restroom – God forbid I say ‘loo’ – and biting my tongue when all I want to do is apologise.

“But I refuse to allow Americans to claim the moral superiority that they are above the social exclusion that the Brits pride themselves on. To mock a Brit in America is the cultural equivalent of a ‘get out of jail free’ card. While technically foreign, our Westernised nature leaves us exempt from real prejudice, so Americans can use this card to their full advantage.”

The funniest, strangest and best things from this year’s Fringe

The Edinburgh Fringe is a place where British eccentrics take centre stage and the country’s weirdest most wonderful talents get to explore the craziest outreaches of their creativity, whether it’s staging immersive theatre in a bathroom, or performing a show on a treadmill.

For all the silliness, though, there’s a seriousness to the whole thing: the Fringe is the breeding ground for Britain’s comedy trendsetters: The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentlemen first found audiences here and the international phenomena that are Fleabag and Baby Reindeer got their first outings on the stages of the Fringe.

This year, as ever, the festival’s packed schedule sees Edinburgh veterans rubbing shoulders with dozens of emerging voices on the hunt for an audience, many of them willing to perform anywhere from the backroom of a pub to a book shop, or even a bathtub.

The summer of 2025 is looking like it’s going to be a particularly strong year for established heroes of the Fringe. Winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award back in 2009, Tim Key returns to the Fringe with a new show Loganberry, likely to be informed, in part, by his recent experiences starring in the film The Ballad of Wallis Island and appearing as pigeon in Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17. Expect deadpan poems and much hilarity.

Following the success of her smash hit Channel 4 show The Change, about a menopausal woman rediscovering herself in the Forest of Dean, Fringe-favourite and 2013 winner Bridget Christie returns to Edinburgh with a work in progress at the Monkey Barrel. Also showing a work in progress is Ahir Shah, who has pedigree when it comes to licking a show into shape at the festival – when he did so in 2023, he won the main prize. Television presenter and podcaster Nish Kumar is back on his old stomping ground too with a new show Nish, Don’t Kill My Vibe at the Gordon Aikman Theatre.

For all the tried-and-tested performers who pretty might guarantee laughs, one of the real joys of the Fringe is to be found in taking a risk on an up-and-coming comedian in the hope you stumble across a star of the future.

In some cases that might mean checking out a Fringe first-timer like Toussaint Douglass, who makes his Edinburgh debut with his hotly-tipped show Accessible Pigeon Material, which promises to be joyfully absurd and very pigeon-heavy in terms of content. Or popping in to see if promising young talents can pull off that tricky second album: having scooped a Best Newcomer gong at last year’s Fringe, Joe Kent-Walters is reprising his gloriously demonic working men’s club owner, Frankie Monroe, at the Monkey Barrel Comedy venue (Cabaret Voltaire).

Also keen to build on a promising start will be Leila Navabi, a television writer from South Wales, whose 2023 musical comedy show Composition included a song about having her ears pierced in Claire’s Accessories. This year, she’s back with Relay, which blends jokes and songs to explore her attempts to make a baby with her girlfriend and a sperm donor.

Whether they’re promising young tyros or established names, for many comedians the creative freedom and outright silliness of the Fringe has them coming back time and time again. Take, for example, Ivo Graham whose show this year is called Orange Crush and is described by the man himself as “a show about hats, haters and hometown heroes, from a man who promised everyone he loved that he wouldn’t do Edinburgh in 2025, but then came back anyway, because he simply had to do this show.”

If you are planning to join Ivo in Edinburgh to soak up the comedy chaos in person, don’t forget provisions. The average Fringe day involves walking 15,000 steps, climbing 43 hills and sitting through at least one show in a sauna-like attic with no ventilation. So, pack accordingly: a bottle of water, a sturdy fan and a packet of Maynards Bassetts Wine Gums or Jelly Babies to keep your blood sugar and national pride intact. Nothing says “I’m here for the arts” quite like chuckling through a late-night experimental mime while chewing on a Jelly Baby’s head.

Now you’re in the know, don’t forget to set the juice loose with Maynards Bassetts – grab a bag today!

Man forces flight into emergency landing after ‘punching’ passenger

A British man accused of repeatedly punching a fellow passenger forced a flight to Turkey into an emergency landing on Monday.

The flight from Manchester to Antalya, Turkey, was forced to make an unscheduled landing at Thessaloniki Airport in Greece at around 11pm on 1 September.

The unidentified 35-year-old man allegedly repeatedly punched a Turkish passenger, 41, in an altercation over a reclining seat.

He was reportedly found guilty of dangerous bodily harm and disturbing the peace on the flight by a Thessaloniki court on Tuesday.

According to Greek outlet Ekathimerini, the man received a 15-month prison sentence, which he was allowed to “buy off” for €10 (£8.67) per day.

The defendant denied punching the passenger, reportedly telling the court he “didn’t do anything violent.”

The sentence was suspended pending an appeal, and the man was released.

Crew members said that the man had drunk two cans of beer, reported Ekathimerini.

The flight continued its journey to Antalya after the man was removed from the aircraft and taken into custody.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) receives “a number of harrowing letters” each year from passengers who witness “drunk and disruptive behaviour in-flight”.

Disruption is happening more often. Globally, the number of “unruly passenger incidents” rose by 8 per cent last year, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Many of the 259 incidents a day (about 11 per hour) will have been terrifying for passengers and crew on board, reports Independent travel correspondent Simon Calder.

“An intoxicated passenger can become a danger to themselves and others on board the aircraft,” says Iata. “In the event of an abnormal or emergency situation, the intoxicated passenger would likely be less able to comprehend, cooperate, respond, follow instructions or evacuate the aircraft.”

Read more: United Airlines planes collide on San Francisco runway

Scientists develop eco-friendly sunscreen that also keeps wearers cool

A new sunscreen made using the pollen from Camellia flowers will not only block harmful UV rays from the sun, but will cool wearers down too, while also reducing the ecological impact of traditional protective suncreams, researchers claim.

Materials scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore, said that in experiments, the pollen-based sunscreen absorbed and blocked UV rays as effectively as commercially available sunscreens, which commonly use minerals like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

The research team said their tests revealed their Camellia pollen-based sunscreen has an “ability to reduce surface skin temperature, thereby helping to keep the skin cool in the presence of simulated sunlight”.

The effect means skin temperature remains about 5C cooler for 20 minutes, compared to other commercially available suncreams.

The team said the cooling effect is attributed to the pollen’s natural properties, which absorb less energy in the visible to near-infrared spectrum – the wavelengths largely responsible for heat generation.

Furthermore, the team assessed the environmental impact of their sunscreen by examining its effect on coral compared to standard sunscreen.

They found commercial sunscreen caused coral bleaching in just two days, leading to coral death by day six. In contrast, the pollen-based sunscreen did not affect the corals, which remained healthy even up to 60 days.

Each year, an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 tonnes of commercial sunscreen make their way into the ocean, as people wash it off in the sea or it flows in from wastewater, the researchers said.

Lead author of the study, Professor Cho Nam-Joon, President’s Chair in Materials Science and Engineering at NTU Singapore, said that pollen is widely available and often consumed for its health benefits.

“We know that pollen is naturally UV-resistant, as its shell needs to protect its inner contents from harsh environmental conditions, including sunlight. Our research aimed to develop a way to process pollen grains into a gel-like form, so that they can be easily applied to human skin,” explained Prof Cho, who is also NTU’s Director of Flagship Programmes and the Director of the Centre of Cross Economy at NTU.

“We wanted to develop an affordable and effective natural sunscreen that is non-allergenic to humans and eco-friendly to the environment. This is where NTU leveraged our deep expertise in materials science and engineering to develop a sustainable real-world solution that has an impact on both humanity and the Earth.”

For those concerned about pollen activating hayfever, the team has allayed those fears too, writing not all types of pollen cause allergy and Camellia pollen is generally considered non-allergenic, as it is a self-pollinating flower.

So when can we get our hands on this magic sun potion and why haven’t we been slathering ourselves cool during the hottest UK summer on record?

The sunscreen is not available immediately, but the team said together with the university they are looking into scaling up the technology, and also hopes to work with industry partners to commercialise a product.