Starmer’s Labour branded ‘austerity-lite’ and ‘rudderless’

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been branded “austerity-lite” and “rudderless” in a scathing attack by the head of one of the UK’s largest unions.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warned the government that a failure to prioritise workers in 2026 could lead to “sowing the seeds of its own destruction”.

She also criticised Labour for being overly preoccupied with its “failing leadership” and potential successors to Sir Keir, rather than addressing the nation’s pressing issues.

Writing in The Times, Ms Graham said: “For too long it has been everyday people, workers and communities who have paid the price for crisis after crisis not of their making. In 2026, this must stop.

“The government needs to decide what it stands for and who it stands for. If we have to ask, it is not working.

“The party faithful can agonise about its failing leadership and a ‘night of the long knives’. But a new Labour leadership with the same policies simply won’t cut it. The doom loop cannot be broken with more austerity lite, no matter who is in Downing Street.

“Britain needs vision. We led the first Industrial Revolution and we are nowhere in the fourth. Rudderless.”

Unite, notably the only affiliated union not to endorse the manifesto, has consistently challenged Labour on key policies.

In her op-ed piece, Ms Graham highlighted the party’s opposition to the winter fuel allowance cut and “the self-harm of net zero targets that came without the needed investment in new industries”.

Further criticising the government’s recent budget choices, she argued that “opting for stealth taxes on workers instead of a wealth tax on the mega-rich was the wrong choice”.

She stated: “Labour must stop being embarrassed to be the voice of workers. Workers are fed up with carrying the can.”

Ms Graham attributed the UK’s poor productivity not to its workforce, but to an “investment strike in UK plc”, describing it as a “collective failure to invest in industry, while maximising returns for shareholders”.

Concluding her piece, she reiterated her stark warning: “Next year Labour must deliver real growth, borrow to invest in Britain to create a sustainable future.

“In the coming year, if this government does not depart from its current path, it will surely be sowing the seeds of its own destruction.”

Fashion designer and two children killed in Boxing Day house fire identified

A mother and her two children who died in a house fire that destroyed their home in the early hours of Boxing Day have been identified.

Fashion designer Fionnghuala Shearman, known as Nu, died alongside her daughter, Eve, aged seven, and son, Ohner, aged four, despite the efforts of her husband.

Her husband, Tom Shearman, an officer with Gloucestershire Police, attempted to rescue his wife and two children but was beaten back by the severity of the fire and was taken to hospital for treatment. He has since been discharged.

Emergency services were called to a mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage on Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, at 3am on Friday.

Detective superintendent Ian Fletcher told reporters outside Gloucestershire Police HQ that the mother and father had been awoken by the fire and had attempted to reach their children in the rear bedroom.

“They have been unable to get to the back bedroom due to the voracity of the fire,” he said.

“The father has smashed his way out of the house through a bathroom window in order to try to access the children’s bedroom via the outside.

“He has been unable to enter the property via that bedroom window.

“He has then tried to re-enter the property through the bathroom window, by which stage the fire has taken hold in the bathroom, and he’s unable to get back into the upstairs bedrooms.

“He has subsequently gone downstairs and tried to force entry via the front and the back door but has been unable to get back inside the property.

“It is at this point that our colleagues from emergency services have attended and have started managing and dealing with that fire.”

Mr Fletcher said the fire was believed to have started on the ground floor and investigations were ongoing to establish the cause, but it was not being treated as suspicious.

The extent of the fire has destroyed the roof, the ceilings and the stairs, as well as causing other significant internal damage.

Mr Fletcher described the anguish the officer is going through at being unable to rescue his wife and children.

A GoFundMe fundraising campaign was launched on Sunday to help Mr Shearman, and more than 5,000 people have made donations totalling over £125,000.

The original £110,000 target has since been increased to £190,000.

“We are not treating this as a suspicious incident at this time,” Mr Fletcher said.

“This would appear to be a tragic accident that occurred in the early hours of Boxing Day. The surviving member of this family is a serving police officer at Gloucestershire Constabulary, and again, our hearts and prayers go out to him and all of his colleagues who know him very well.

“He is working with us to try to understand what exactly has happened within that property.”

Mr Fletcher added: “We have multiple witnesses who describe the anguish that he was going through, his inability to get in and save his children and save his wife.

“He is, as you can imagine, in a very distraught way.

“Sadly, lost his family at a time which is supposed to be a happy festive period.”

Temporary chief constable Maggie Blyth said: “This is an unimaginable tragedy and my thoughts are with our colleague, along with all of those involved and impacted by what has happened.

“At a time when we are all acutely aware of family and the joys that they can bring, my heart breaks at the indescribable pain that they must be experiencing.”

The Shearmans were registered as living at the property.

Ms Shearman ran a bespoke handbag manufacturer, Hide & Hammer, making fashion accessories from leather and canvas fabric.

A friend of the family told the Daily Mail that what happened was “absolutely shocking”.

“We are all shellshocked to be honest with you,” they told the newspaper.

“We don’t know what happened [to cause the fire].”

Nathaniel Hooton, deputy chief fire officer of Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service, said the house was well ablaze when crews arrived.

“It was extremely challenging and they were faced with a well-developed serious fire on arrival,” he said.

“Trying to make their way into the building, trying to rescue the occupants within that building, and also dealing with everything else that was going on.

“They tried their hardest to get in there and do whatever was necessary, and they continue to work extremely hard to support the recovery of the unfortunate loss of life.”

A spokesperson for the Gloucestershire Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said: “This is an unimaginable tragedy to have struck a colleague and their family and our hearts are broken for them.

“It is impossible for us all to properly comprehend and come to terms with what has happened.

“The federation are offering as much support as is possible to our colleague at this deeply saddening time.”

A fundraising campaign has so far raised more than £65,000 for Mr Shearman. Donations can be made at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-rebuild-after-an-unimaginable-loss

Anthony Joshua latest: Boxer’s team members killed in crash named

Two “close friends” and members of boxer Anthony Joshua’s team have been confirmed dead following a fatal car crash in Nigeria.

Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele are believed to have been travelling in the same Lexus Jeep as Mr Joshua when it collided with a stationary truck by the side of a busy highway of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway at 11am local time on Monday, according to reports.

Mr Ayodele, otherwise known as Latz, was seen playing table tennis with Mr Joshua hours before the collision. Known as healthy_mindset on social media, he has been by Joshua’s side over the last decade of his career.

Mr Ghami is a physio in the boxer’s team and a friend of Mr Joshua, who is reportedly in a stable condition and has spoken to his family, but was rushed to hospital after he suffered minor injuries in the crash.

The British boxer, a former two-time world heavyweight champion who is also of Nigerian heritage, was holidaying in Africa just 10 days after his high-profile fight with Jake Paul. Follow all the latest updates, news and reaction from the car crash below:

Littler aims fiery response at fans after being booed against Cross

Luke Littler laughed at fans booing him after booking his place in the last eight of the PDC World Championship.

‘The Nuke’ was too good for former world champion Rob Cross, prevailing with a 4-2 win at Alexandra Palace, with a raucous crowd delivering a hostile environment.

The 18-year-old was almost pushed to a deciding set, but eventually closed out the match with an average of almost 107 and 17 180s.

Asked about his reception, Littler opted for a fiery response, goading the crowd and thanking them for contributing to his earnings, with a record £1m prize pot for the winner at this year, double his first-place prize in last year’s edition.

“I’m not bothered, really, I’m really not bothered,” Littler said before bursting into laughter.

“Can I say one thing, you guys pay for tickets that pays for my prize money, so thank you, thank you for my money, thank you for booing me, thank you, come on!

“I’ve just seen the stats but I wasn’t really thinking of anything. I just wanted to win the game. It was hostile, nobody wanted me to win, but I proved them wrong.”

It was an unusual experience for Littler, who has been the darling of the Alexandra Palace crowd since bursting onto the scene two years ago, and he admitted he “lost” his head with his response.

“Two years ago I think I would have started throwing my darts left-handed, but that is how much I have grown, how much I have matured,” the defending champion said.

“People might say I have not matured, but try and be in my position. I can still learn a lot. I can learn how to deal with the crowd, not let as much emotion out, just keep it all in me until that final dart.

“That’s the first time I’ve been at the World Championships and the crowd have not wanted me to win. I will expect the worst on New Year’s Day and whatever happens will happen.

“The fans did what they did, I reacted like any other player would, I think I might have reacted a bit too early on after the first set and when I came on for the second set I said to myself, ‘Yeah, you’ve reacted too early here’.

“I just had to get on with the job. It wasn’t really at the front of the mind because they want the underdog to win or they want the game to go on even longer.”

Cross, the 2018 champion, overcame a scruffy start and reduced the arrears to 3-2 after nailing a 126 checkout on the bull in the deciding leg.

Cross had clearly grasped the momentum, and after moving 2-1 up in the sixth set he missed a single dart at tops to level at 3-3 – and was duly punished by Littler who took out the next two legs to reach the quarter-finals.

Earlier, world number 20 Ryan Searle averaged over 100 as he secured his fourth successive whitewash win with a 4-0 triumph over James Hurrell in Monday’s other last-16 clash.

Charlie Manby’s dream World Championship debut continued as he beat an out-of-sorts Ricky Evans 4-2 at to seal his place in round four.

Huddersfield bricklayer Manby, 20, is guaranteed a £60,000 pay-cheque after overcoming his early struggles on the doubles against Evans and now faces European champion Gian van Veen for a place in the quarter-finals.

It was an even contest until Manby levelled the match at 2-2, with Evans suffering a dramatic loss of form.

Manby, who landed just four of his first 30 double attempts, said: “It was frustrating. I should have taken the first set, simple as that.

“I missed doubles, but at first to four there is a lot of time, so I think I recovered well and got my confidence back.”

World number 40 Kevin Doets produced an upset as he beat 15th seed Nathan Aspinall 4-3 in a thriller to set up a last-16 tie against 2024 world champion Luke Humphries.

Dutchman Doets hit back from behind three times in a see-saw battle before racing to victory in the deciding set and making it six straight wins against Aspinall.

After being pegged back at 2-2, Aspinall produced a 170-finish to snatch the fifth set only to see Doets hit a 164-checkout to level it back up at 3-3 and maintain his heavy scoring to win the decider 3-0.

Justin Hood eased through to the fourth round on his tournament debut by beating Ryan Meikle 4-1, despite not hitting the same heights as in his previous match.

Hood, who averaged 103 when knocking fifth seed Danny Noppert out in round two, opened up a 3-0 lead before Meikle responded with 146 and 147 finishes to take the fourth set.

Hood will face Josh Rock in the last 16, after the Northern Ireland star rebounded from losing the first set to cruise past Callan Rydz 4-1.

PA contributed to this report

Forget having a boyfriend – these are the trends that will be embarrassing in 2026

Boyfriends officially became embarrassing in 2025. That’s according to a viral article by Chanté Joseph for British Vogue, which articulated a distinct vibe shift, that it is now “fundamentally uncool to be a boyfriend-girl”.

Far from being aspirational to post about your partner online, it became a bit, well, cringe. Women refrained from “hard launching” their relationships on social media; if they did ever include their man, he’d be mainly out of shot, with perhaps just a hand creeping into frame. Subtle hints without the confirmation – and certainly minus the gushing posts of old.

“Being partnered doesn’t affirm your womanhood anymore; it is no longer considered an achievement and, if anything, it’s become more of a flex to pronounce yourself single,” observed Joseph.

So if openly having a boyfriend is the most decidedly off-trend behaviour of 2025, what’s destined for the lifestyle scrapheap in 2026? Here are my predictions for the most obvious casualties…

Whisper it, but… is posting about your life on social media a bit naff these days? It certainly looks like it. Tired of the infinite scroll and being manipulated by algorithms, people are spending less time on platforms overall and sharing less of their personal lives. This is reflected in young people’s changing tastes; screens may have ruled the roost over the past two decades, but Gen Z are all about going analogue, more likely to be pursuing a latent passion for whittling bespoke milking pails than cruising for likes or mindlessly watching TikToks. They’re experimenting with dumbphones, leaning into tech-free hobbies, getting off-grid and taking life offline. And, for Gen Alpha, social media is where people like their parents hang out. What could be more deeply uncool?

I’m not attacking hydration, merely the receptacle it comes in. After Booker Prize-winning novelist Ian McEwan branded the modern-day obsession with carrying a water bottle “deranged”, it became clear that the days of insanely gargantuan Stanley Cups and their ilk were numbered. Somehow, carting around a vessel that’s roughly the same size and weight as a newborn baby just to avoid being temporarily thirsty no longer screams “chic”.

As the AI tsunami that nobody asked for continues to rage unabated, I predict that authenticity and anything with the unmistakable mark of being human-made will command a premium. On the flipside, fessing up to consulting ChatGPT – especially when you could have just Googled or, let’s face it, engaged your brain for five minutes – is going to become just a little bit shameful.

Trashy structured reality shows have long been the guilty viewing pleasure we no longer feel guilty about. But as the proliferation of shows has expanded at an ever-increasing rate – Selling Sunset having spawned Selling the OC, Selling Tampa and Selling the City faster than you can say “How many bathrooms?” – the quality has plummeted. Once golden formats like Love Is Blind no longer sparkle now they’re saturated by self-selecting narcissists (who are much too image-conscious to ever fall in love, let alone get married), while derivative shows like Perfect Match seem like they were dreamed up by an AI bad ideas generator. The only exemption in all of this is The Traitors, which, off the back of its first epic UK celebrity version, remains the most compelling thing on telly.

The world and his wife seem to have been on weight loss injections this year – and boy, do we never stop hearing about it. While there are clearly huge health benefits – especially for those who were pre-diabetic – the darker side of the jabs has also become apparent.

In 2025, we started to hear more about hair loss, “Ozempic teeth”, crippling nausea and the revelation that patients typically gained all their original weight back within 10 months of stopping medication. Not to mention all the potential risks from dodgy, unapproved jabs manufactured by organised crime gangs…

I’d never even heard of these cursed, fanged plastic dolls dressed in fur rompers eight months ago. Now, they haunt my dreams. They inexplicably exploded in popularity with young women in 2025, commanding crazy prices as scarcity increased (Forbes even suggested they might make good investments after one sold for more than $10,000) and becoming the bag accessory du jour, as ubiquitous as it was ugly.

There’s even a Labubu movie reportedly in the works. Too bad the hype has already cooled, with the trend declared “over” at the tail-end of 2025 thanks to stalling sales and increased availability.

…Otherwise known as Brazilian Butt Lifts, or BBLs. This cosmetic procedure involves taking fat from other places like the stomach, hips, or thighs via liposuction and injecting it into the bum to create the extremely shapely, rounded (and very clearly not natural) silhouette popularised by the likes of the Kardashian clan and Cardi B in the 2010s.

More than a decade later, the exaggerated posterior feels very much of its time. As one Instagrammer identified, the BBL now looks dated, as anchored to a particular era as the giant perm was to the Eighties. People are even getting them removed, including Geordie Shore’s Chloe Ferry, who said back in August that she looked “so much better” without the oversized derriere.

But you know what never goes out of style? Doing what makes you happy, regardless of trends. So if that’s chugging out of a labubu-adorned bottle the size of a toddler while watching Real Housewives and consulting ChatGPT about what to have for dinner… well, “you do you”, as the kids say. Ignore me and go live your best life.

Five perfect family getaways in Catalonia’s green heart

Looking for a family holiday that combines adventure, nature, and a touch of culture? Catalonia’s green heart is bursting with possibilities, from mountain valleys where flaming torches light up midsummer skies to tranquil wetlands teeming with wildlife. Whether your crew prefers gentle hikes, ancient ruins or ski slopes and riverside trails, this corner of northern Spain offers unforgettable experiences for every age and season. Here are five destinations that prove The Pyrenees of Catalonia might just be Europe’s ultimate family playground.

Located also in Catalan Pyrenees west, near the border with France, Catalonia’s wonderful all-rounder really does have something for the whole family. In terms of culture, it’s a place rich with traditions and history. Kids of all ages will be entranced by the annual summer solstice Fallas festivals, which involve young men carrying flaming torches from high in the mountains down to their villages where they light bonfires and take part in traditional dances late into the night. Even the most heritage-resistant will surely be converted by Vall de Boí’s unmatched collection of astonishingly preserved Romanesque churches, with their evocative towers, atmospheric interiors, and beautiful settings. The area is blessed with trails that will suit the youngest of hikers, like the routes at Salencar de Barruera where you walk along the river following a paved path from a playground to the Salencar wetlands.

Located just west of Andorra near the border with France, the Valls d’Àneu was the first inland part of Catalonia to receive the DTF family tourism certification, and it’s easy to see why. All valleys and peaks, glacial lakes and seemingly endless meadows, it feels like an unspoilt Eden that’s waiting to be explored all year round. In winter, the Espot ski station is a family favourite, with its dedicated beginners area with magic carpets and a drag lift, and its large number of green and blue slopes. Throughout the rest of the year, families flock to one of the region’s great areas of natural splendour: Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, which features more than 200 lakes with breathtaking alpine backdrops, many of them easily accessible on flat family walkways.

A few miles inland from Cadaqués in the Mediterranean, the gorgeous seaside town famous for its postcard-perfect whitewashed architecture, lies one of Catalonia’s big draws for nature-loving families: the Aiguamolls de l’Empordà Natural Park. A 47km² wetland wonderland, its varied eco-systems are home to an astonishing range of birds and animals from bitterns and marsh harriers to otters and polecats. Parents to budding history buffs are also well-served in the area, which is home to both the Citadel of Roses – a fascinating journey through time that includes Hellenistic ruins, Visigoth-era buildings and Romanesque monasteries – and the archaeological site of Empúries with its reconstructed forum. It also benefits from being one of Catalonia’s culinary hotspots with its highly regarded seafood and excellent wines for deserving mums and dads.

Situated in the west of the Catalan Pyrenees, Pirineus, Noguera Palleresa is a stunning high peak destination that offers a vast range of family-friendly activities. In the snowy season, head to the celebrated Port Ainé ski resort, which has something to suit children of all ages from sledding play areas to treetop adventure parks. In summer, beat a path to the Alt Pirineu Natural Park which has abundant paths ideal for reluctant hikers, many of them with great views of the Pica d’Estats, which at 3143m is the highest mountain in Catalonia. Lovers of adventure sports should head to Sort on the Noguera Pallaresa river, which is the region’s top spot for whitewater rafting with gentle open kayaking for littler kids and thrilling canyoning for teenagers.

The Vall de Camprodon, located in Girona province just North of the town of Ripoll, is famous for its art nouveau architecture. One of the main draws of the Vall de Camprodon is the Ter and Freser Headwaters Natural Park, with its lush valleys and thrilling backdrop of high peaks. It’s a must-visit for aspiring bird-watchers, who if they’re lucky might see Griffon vultures, golden eagles, and Eurasian eagle-owls. Little kids will love the Camprodon Valley Tourist Train, which takes passengers on a 45 minute tour of Camprodon, allowing them to explore the valley and see incredible views of the Pont Nou without too much walking. And everyone will adore the food, particularly the local specialty biscuits, which they’ve been making since the 19th Century.

Plan your sustainable trip to the Catalan Pyrenees at visitpirineus.com/en

A&E ‘in big trouble’ as ‘corridor care’ becoming normalised, medical chief says

“Howls of outrage” should erupt over deaths linked to extended waits in emergency departments, a prominent medic has declared, warning that the practice of “corridor care” has become disturbingly “normalised” among patients, staff, and health leaders within NHS hospitals.

Dr Ian Higginson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), revealed that only a “few” hospitals across the UK have successfully avoided treating patients on trolleys in corridors.

He issued a stark warning, stating that emergency departments nationwide “are in big trouble,” with this pervasive corridor care identified as the central issue.

Patients are now “not surprised” when they are cared for in a corridor because the issue has been “normalised”, Dr Higginson told the Press Association.

But he warned that doctors “can’t deliver care in corridors”.

Earlier this year the college released estimates that suggested there were more than 16,600 deaths of patients linked to very long waits in A&E for a hospital bed last year – the equivalent of approximately 320 deaths a week.

“If we had 16,000 patients a year dying in bus crashes or in aircraft crashes or anywhere else there would be such howls of outrage something would be done about it,” he told PA.

“And yet, we can’t understand why those awful statistics don’t provoke really determined action at the highest level across governments, and they don’t.”

Separate analysis, released earlier this month, found that almost one in five patients treated in UK emergency departments in March were being cared for in “escalation areas”, which were classed as any area not routinely used for care – such as corridors.

Dr Higginson said: “It will be worse now.”

Asked whether the service was in for a bad winter, he said: “If you look at general trends, things are getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse.

“NHS England has talked about the green shoots of recovery. We just don’t see those at all. I think that is wishful thinking.”

Earlier this month Health Secretary Wes Streeting pledged to end corridor care in hospitals in England by the next general election, “if not sooner”.

Dr Higginson said that efforts to resolve the crisis in hospitals around the UK are focusing on “bits that they think are quick and easy and cheap” – such as “trying to persuade us not to go to hospital, or looking for alternatives to admission, or setting up things like NHS 111”.

“It’s like trying to put out a fire with buckets of water, whilst at the same time chucking fuel on it from the other side, it’s just, it’s not going to work,” he said.

“The solutions are to make hospitals more efficient; to provide more staff to beds in hospitals and to improve community based and social care so that patients can leave hospital where they need to.”

The emergency care doctor told PA: “Emergency departments across the UK are in big trouble at the moment.

“The main problem we have is that we have patients in our corridors – we’re full to bursting.

“And that’s because there aren’t enough beds in our hospitals for us to admit our patients to, and that makes it really difficult for us to look after our patients properly, because we can’t deliver care in corridors.

“And it also creates difficult working conditions for our staff – our staff at the moment are run ragged, exhausted and suffering from a mixture of either burnout, moral injury or exhaustion, PTSD or a mixture of all of the above.

“And the biggest frustration is that this is a completely fixable problem. We know it is. It just requires the political will, the prioritisation and the leadership to make big inroads in it and to make it better.”

Asked if there were any hospitals that are not treating patients in corridors, Dr Higginson went on: “There are probably a very few hospitals that aren’t. They’re likely to be children’s hospitals and children’s emergency departments.

“But I think you’d find it very hard to find emergency departments that do not have patients in their corridors.

“So it’s a problem that is now so widespread that we have normalised it.

“And I think the fact that we’ve normalised it makes it even harder to persuade people that it’s a problem, because it just becomes an expectation.

“Patients expect when they come to our departments to have to wait a long time, and they’re not surprised when they are in a corridor.

“Staff are not surprised where patients are in corridors and and I think our leaders and politicians just accept it as normal and therefore don’t have the same urgency behind it as they would do if it was something that’s completely abnormal.”

Professor Nicola Ranger, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Doctors and nursing staff are clear that corridor care is unsafe, undignified and unacceptable.

“But what’s almost as shocking as the normalisation of this devastating collapse in care standards is the lack of urgency in sorting it.

“It has been over 18 months since nursing staff declared a national emergency over corridor care.

“The failure to get to grips with the issue means that patients are routinely coming to harm and even dying unnecessarily.

“That situation threatens to worsen further this winter as cold weather hits – it will mean care in non-clinical areas will spread further, as it already has, beyond emergency departments and to wards and other parts of the NHS estate. It is incredibly dangerous.

“Nursing staff want to see a fully funded action plan setting out eradication. This starts with real investment in beds, the nursing workforce in hospitals and the community, and crucially, long-overdue action to boost capacity in social care to improve discharge.

“Patients don’t have years to wait and every day corridor still exists is a policy failure with devastating human consequences.”

Dr Helen Neary, co-chairwoman of the British Medical Association’s consultants committee, said: “Corridor care is a symptom of a broken system.

“Patients are lying in corridors, being assessed in cupboards and treated in waiting rooms because there are no beds and too few staff to provide safe care.

“As any emergency doctor will tell you, this is the everyday reality, not an exception.

“The government says it wants to end this crisis but words have not changed conditions on the ground.

“Unless urgent action is taken to expand properly staffed bed capacity and rebuild core services, corridor care will remain embedded in the NHS and patient safety will continue to deteriorate.”

Official NHS figures show the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted in England stood at 50,648 in November.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “It is totally unacceptable that patients are waiting over 12 hours to be admitted to a hospital bed, and in some cases, this wait is occurring in corridors.

“The NHS is working hard to free up beds by ensuring patients are discharged as soon as they are medically fit to leave hospital or cared for closer to home by improved access to appropriate services in the community.

“This winter, specialist NHS productivity and regional experts are working closely with hospitals to drive down incidences of corridor care, and ensuring patients receive the quality of care they deserve.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “No one should receive care in a corridor – the situation we inherited is unacceptable and undignified, and we are determined to end it.

“Although things are tough right now and the road ahead is long, our investment and modernisation are making a difference and the NHS is showing signs of recovery.

“Compared to last year, more patients are being seen within four hours of arriving at A&E, and ambulance response times are 10 minutes faster for conditions like stroke or chest pain.”

Adam Peaty changes name after wedding to Holly Ramsay amid family rift

Swimming champion Adam Peaty has changed his name on Instagram following his wedding to Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, Holly.

The celebrity chef was among the stars who attended the ceremony held on Saturday at Bath Abbey on Saturday, and reportedly gave a speech that alluded to the fall-out with Peaty’s parents, who did not attend.

After the wedding, Peaty changed his name on his Instagram profile so it now reads: “Adam Ramsay Peaty.”

The Sun reports that Ramsay, 59, told Peaty he was a “lucky man” as he gushed about how beautiful Holly looked, referring to his own wife, Tana and remarking: “That’s what you have to look forward to.”

Peaty reportedly made a subtle reference to the situation with his family in his own speech at the wedding, by thanking the 200 guests in attendance for their support in a “difficult time”.

The row with Peaty’s family is rumoured to have erupted after his mother, Caroline, was not invited to Holly’s hen do at Soho Farmhouse in Great Tew, Chipping Norton.

Holly shared a number of photos from the celebrations, which were attended by her mum, sisters and a number of close friends.

An Instagram user purporting to be Adam Peaty’s aunt, Louise, commented on Holly’s post: “I’m so glad that you are having a great hen do as a bride you deserve that. However as a person you were divisive and hurtful towards a woman who I have loved and continue to love deeply. A woman who opened her home and heart to you.

“You decided, for whatever reason, not to invite her, your prospective mother in law to your hen night yet Adam invited his father in law, your dad, to his stag night.

“You invited your mum (quite rightly) and even your mum’s assistant, your sisters, your friends, my niece, but not my sister, your future mother in law. I have also seen messages passing between her and Adam (without my sister’s knowledge or consent) about this and other matters and quite frankly I expected better of you and definitely of Adam. You have inflicted a hurt on my sister that will take a very long time to heal if ever.”

Ahead of the wedding ceremony, Caroline also gave an interview to the Daily Mail, for which she was not paid, commenting: “I don’t think they understand how much they have hurt me; it’s as if they have cut my heart out.

“This is the first Christmas that I’ve not had my family together – my family is broken.”

She added: “They are still both loved, there is nothing I won’t forgive, and I want them to have the best day.”

Peaty, 31, is believed to have met Holly through his sister, Tilly, when they both took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2021.

Holly, 25, announced their engagement on 12 September 2024 in an Instagram post that said: “I am marrying my best friend. I truly cannot put into words how I am feeling right now.”

In a separate post, Peaty said: “I can’t believe you’re going to be my wife. I’m truly the luckiest man on earth to have such a gentle, caring and beautiful woman by my side.”

Peaty, a six-time Olympic gold medallist from Staffordshire, was previously in a relationship with artist Eirianedd Munro, with whom he shares a five-year-old.

His sister Beth, 32, was apparently the only family member who attended the service, as maid of honour with Holly’s sisters, Megan and Tilly, as bridesmaids.

Among the celebrity guests at the ceremony were former footballer Sir David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girls star and fashion designer Victoria, and their youngest children Romeo, Cruz and Harper.

Channel 5 newsreader Dan Walker posted to social media that it was a “great wedding” filled with “top people”.

Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies, who competed alongside Peaty on the 19th series of Strictly Come Dancing, also wished the couple a “lifetime of happiness together” following their “beautiful” wedding.

She also had plenty of praise reserved for the feast laid on for guests at the ceremony, which she noted was not surprising given Gordon Ramsay’s long career as one of the UK’s top chefs.

“Yesterday I had the privilege of being at this amazing man’s wedding – and it also gave me a moment to reflect on how lucky I’ve been to have him in my life over the past four years,” she said.

“From the first day we met on Strictly, we’ve been firm friends, and it was a real honour to sit in Bath Abbey and watch him get emotional as the love of his life walked down the aisle.

“It was such a special day. Simon (her husband) and I had the best time, the service was beautiful – and I’m sure you’ll not be surprised to hear me say, it was hands down the best wedding food I’ve ever had.

“Wishing my wonderful friend and his gorgeous bride a lifetime of happiness together.”

The Independent has contacted Ramsay and Peaty’s representatives for comment.

Additional reporting by Press Association