Latest news with #IanDury
The Sun
02-08-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Lionesses' victory showed strong & proud England at its finest… the return of unapologetic patriotism was long overdue
IF you were attempting to fly off on your family holiday this Wednesday just as all outbound flights from the UK were grounded due to a technical failure, then you would have had a vivid close-up of broken Britain. You know the place. The land where 'nothing works'. The country where taxes are at an all-time high and yet public services are at an all-time low. Where a deeply unpopular government presides over unfettered immigration, industrial unrest, porous borders, NHS queues, rising violent crime and economic paralysis. If I had been one of 577,000 Brits decked by the latest air traffic chaos, you bet your life I would have been screaming: 'Why does nothing work in this bloody country?' Most feel that a raft of crimes are on the rise, from sex offences to knife crime to street mugging. Yet police stations are closed. Coppers are rarely seen on our lawless streets. Burglars, shoplifters and phone-snatchers get away with their crimes. Our capital has become Dodge City with a mayor who frets more about the American President than he does the anarchic streets of London. But it is always worth remembering that there is another country — an unbroken Britain. And it is just as real as the land of striking doctors, online haters, small boats, e-bikes dumped in disabled bays, brazen shoplifters, phone snatchers, knife crime, and all the rest of our litany of misery. What my old mucker Ian Dury called reasons to be cheerful. That unbroken Britain — strong and proud, stoic and resilient — was rampant when England's women won the Euros. England's Lionesses return home to heroes' welcome with EURO 2025 trophy 'This team shows exactly what it means to be English,' said Lioness Chloe Kelly. 'I am so proud to be English. This team is made of magic and made of steel.' 'We've shown during this tournament that we can come back when we go a goal down,' said hero goalkeeper Hannah Hampton. 'We have that grit. We have English blood in us.' The return of unapologetic, unabashed patriotism is long overdue. Remembering who we are — and why it should make us happy — can never be wrong. Those patriotic Lionesses spoke of something real. This country has faced and fought tyrants for centuries. It has not been invaded for 1,000 years. It is home to a tough, tolerant, quietly courageous, freedom-loving people with an instinct for good manners and gentle humour. Fashionable self-loathing Doesn't that remind you of your family and your friends and everyone you grew up with? We have so many reasons to be proud of our country. Eleven years ago, Labour's Emily Thornberry took a photo of a working-class home with a St George flag on display outside — because Emily clearly thought it was hilarious, darling. But for all that ails our nation — and yes, there is plenty — I believe in my blood and bones that Emily Thornberry's brand of fashionable self-loathing has had its day. Enough. I am always proud of this country. Our history. Our people. The freedom we revere. The creativity that has poured from these shores. The grit we show when our backs are against the wall. Parts of Britain undeniably feel shattered. But there is a national soul that is made of unbreakable material. It was there in the smiling faces of all those different generations on the Mall, as they waved their Union Jacks and their flags of St George, responding to what George Orwell called, 'The spiritual need for patriotism for which, however little the boiled rabbits of the Left may like it, no substitute has yet been found.' Never forget that our unbroken, unbreakable Britain is real too, and we are right to feel an unapologetic love for it. There are no small boats trying to get into France, are there? MARIAH A TIME KILLER MARIAH Carey insists that ageing is optional. Asked how she deals with getting older, Mariah flounces: 'I don't allow it – it just doesn't happen. 'I don't know time. I don't know numbers. I do not acknowledge time.' David Bowie once told me exactly the opposite. 'The years seem to go faster,' Bowie told me just before his 50th birthday in January 1997. 'And that's because the years really are going faster.' The David Bowie theory of time was that it accelerates as we get older because one year is always becoming a smaller percentage of your life span. For Bowie, at 50, a year was just two per cent of his life – a fleeting fragment. But when David was a ten-year-old boy at Burnt Ash Junior School in Bromley, a year was ten per cent of his life. Mariah Carey, that admirably defiant diva, 56, says that we can ignore the passing of time. But David Bowie insisted that time is forever slipping through our fingers. I wonder who is right? LISTEN TO NEV, RACHEL GARY Neville is that great rarity – a Labour supporter who is also a successful businessman. We think of Gary as an acid-tongued football pundit. But – as his website proudly states – he has been a property developer since he was 21 years old, he is the co-founder of the production company Buzz 16 and his investment business, Relentless, is now ten years old. So when Gary Neville talks about this Labour Government's relationship to business, they should listen. Gary points out the intolerable burden that has been placed on British business by Chancellor Rachel Reeves hiking employers' National Insurance contributions. 'I honestly don't believe that companies and small businesses should be deterred from employing people,' he told Sky News. Neville is right – hammering employers is the dumbest move of a Government that claims to crave economic growth. Our Government is stuffed full of people who have worked as a lawyer (Keir Starmer, David Lammy), economist (Rachel Reeves) and trade union representative (Angela Rayner). Incredibly, there is not one entrepreneur among them. Can't they find a seat for Gary Neville around the Cabinet table? LIAM AND PAMELA HAVE GUN AND DONE IT 5 AGAINST all expectations, film critics are hailing the Liam Neeson-Pamela Anderson reboot of clasic cop caper The Naked Gun as a comic masterpiece. 'This is one of the funniest films I have seen in years,' said my colleague Grant Rollings in The Sun. 'So funny it made me physically crumble in my seat on multiple occasions,' gasped the Telegraph. There are two reasons this is weird. One – in recent years, comedy has gone out of fashion in Hollywood. And two – although the sequel, reboot and film franchise are all the rage in Tinsel Town, they are usually never as good as the original. Until Liam Neeson flashed his lurid underpants and got out his indecently large Glock. Until Pamela Anderson, above with Liam, brilliantly reinvented herself as a comic femme fatale. Until now. I suggest that no film this year has received rave reviews like this remake of The Naked Gun. And I hear you cry – surely you can't be serious? But I am dead serious. And don't call me Shirley! THUGS ON RISE MOHAMMED Fahir Amaaz has been convicted on three counts of assault at Manchester airport, including attacks on two female officers, PC Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook. The CCTV footage of Amaaz using what was described in court as 'a high level of violence' is truly sickening. PC Cook had her nose broken by this violent thug. Once upon a time – how long ago it seems! – men in this country did not think it was acceptable to hit women. And now, God help us, some of them do. PROVING that our footballers have far more money than they know what to do with, Erling Haaland's partner Isabel Haugseng Johansen poses with a £330,000 diamond-encrusted crocodile-skin Hermes handbag. Now that's what I call a sick bag. Are we meant to be impressed? Frankly, the notion that some beautiful crocodile was skinned to provide some narcissistic rich person with clicks on Instagram turns my stomach. A crocodile is a wild animal. Never a handbag. ON a golfing trip to Scotland, Donald Trump took time out to knock Net Zero for fore. While Sir Keir Starmer sat mutely by his side, the POTUS pointed out that there was a 'vast fortune to be made for the UK' if the Government reversed its self-harming policy of denying new licences for gas and oil extraction from the North Sea. Trump also railed against wind turbines and the madness of ignoring shale reserves. Starmer said nowt. Perhaps he knows that the Orange King is right. And that green goon Ed Miliband, the swivel-eyed major nutjob of Net Zero, is wrong, wrong, wrong. AS JK Rowling turns sixty, she is rightly hailed as a fearless women's campaigner. Joanne also deserves the thanks of a nation for her achievement as a writer. Nobody ever did more to give generations of children a love of reading that will stay with them for a lifetime.
The Sun
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Is Robbie Williams playing Soccer Aid 2025?
ROBBIE WILLIAMS is the brainchild behind Soccer Aid, which has now raised over £106m since its creation in 2006. The star-studded charity match sees the England XI against a World XI featuring former players and top celebs. 3 Pop royalty Williams came up with the idea of Soccer Aid alongside his friend Jonathan Wilkes, while sitting poolside in Los Angeles. Wilkes said on Soccer Aid's success: "It's incredible, I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I genuinely thought it was going to be a one-off in 2006." The money raised from the celebrity charity match is donated to children's charity Unicef. Williams said in 2021 about Soccer Aid, which made a then record £13 that year: 'It's difficult to put into words the impact that £13 million could have for children around the world. 'It could help Unicef to get life-saving food supplies moving again. It could help ensure that children are still able to receive their routine vaccinations. It could help get children back to school, back with their friends, back to just being kids again. The list goes on.' Soccer Aid was initially held every two years, but since 2018, it has become an annual event. Williams, 51, has been working with Unicef since 1998 after being introduced to the organisation by the late Ian Dury. Is Robbie Williams playing at Soccer Aid 2025? Robbie Williams is expected to get some minutes in his big return to the pitch at Soccer Aid tonight. Williams last played in Soccer Aid back in 2016, only coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute. He withdrew due to injury in 2018 taking to managerial roles for the big clash since, and sang Angels at half-time at the London Stadium in 2022. Williams is currently in the middle of his BRITPOP tour, in support of his first new album in 10 years. 3 Who is playing at Soccer Aid 2025? Here are the full line-ups for this year's Soccer Aid: *Subject to change England full team at Soccer Aid 2025: Steven Bartlett (Entrepreneur) Alex Brooker (TV personality) Jermain Defoe (Former footballer) Toni Duggan (Former footballer) Angry Ginge (YouTuber) Tom Grennan (Musician) Bear Grylls (TV personality) Joe Hart (Former footballer) Steph Houghton (Former footballer) Aaron Lennon (Former footballer) Dame Denise Lewis (Olympic gold medallist) Paddy McGuinness (TV personality) Sir Mo Farah (Former Olympian) Gary Neville (Former footballer) Sam Quek (Former hockey player/TV personality) Wayne Rooney (Former footballer and manager) Paul Scholes (Former footballer) Jill Scott (Former footballer) Sam Thompson (King of the Jungle) Louis Tomlinson (Musician) Michael Carrick (Former footballer) Phil Jagielka (Former footballer) Roman Kemp (Radio host) Jack Wilshere (Former footballer) Bella Ramsey (Actor) And the following will be coaching England: Wayne Rooney (Former footballer and manager) Tyson Fury (Boxer) Harry Redknapp (Former football manager) Vicky McClure (Actor) Goalkeeping coach: David James (Former footballer) World XI full team at Soccer Aid 2025: Tony Bellew (Former boxer) Leonardo Bonucci (Former footballer) Tobi Brown (YouTube star) Martin Compston (Actor) Richard Gadd (Actor) Bryan Habana (Former rugby star) Dermot Kennedy (Musician) Kaylyn Kyle (Former footballer) Gorka Marquez (Dancer) Nadia Nadim (Footballer) Livi Sheldon (Gladiators star) Edwin van der Sar (Former footballer) Nemanja Vidic (Former footballer) Harry Kewell (Former footballer) Big Zuu (YouTube star) Noah Beck (Actor) Carlos Tevez (Former footballer) Billy Wingrove (Football freestyler) Robbie Keane (Former footballer) John O'Shea (Former footballer) Maisie Adam (Comedian) David Trezeguet (Former footballer) Nicky Byrne (Singer) Kheira Hamraoui (Former footballer) Asim Chaudhry (Comedian) Rivaldo (Former footballer) World XI manager: Peter Schmeichel Emmett J. Scanlan (Actor) Martin Compston (Actor) Hosts Alex Scott Dermot O'Leary Commentators Sam Matterface Iain Sterling Jason Manford
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Ian Dury's musician son Baxter reveals he lost his licence... after Jeremy Vine filmed him using a mobile phone while driving - as presenter dubs situation 'unfortunate'
Ian Dury's son has admitted he lost his driving licence after he was filmed using his phone while driving by Jeremy Vine - who has called the situation 'unfortunate' and expressed his 'love' for his father's music. Musician Baxter Dury, 53, said he was caught red-handed by Vine as he was driving back to his west London home from producer Paul Epworth's studio where the pair were working on his new album Allbarone. Speaking to BBC 6 Music's Roundtable host Huw Stephens, Baxter said: 'Do you know what? This is a tragic story, but I drove there for the first half (of making the record) and then lost my license.' The son of the late 70s punk-rock icon added: 'I got caught in a traffic jam, and Jeremy Vine took a film of me looking at Instagram, which he deserves to, I'm not arguing about (it). Shouldn't probably say that publicly, he's probably in the other room, isn't he?' BBC Radio 2 presenter Vine is a keen cyclist who has been described as 'willing to die in defence of the Highway Code' for filming dodgy drivers with his helmet camera on his daily commutes through London's congested roads and reporting them to the police. Responding to Baxter's comments, Vine, 59, today told MailOnline: 'This is very unfortunate. I would like Baxter to know that I love his dad's music. 'I'm afraid mobile phone use in cars in London, particular the posher parts, is an absolute curse. So I am quite tunnel-visioned about it. 'We have 1700 road deaths a year. Sorry to be serious about it. Best wishes to Baxter.' Until April, Vine spent years posting videos of drivers endangering themselves, others and cyclists online 'to get all of us who drive to think about the dangers of trying to move around cities on a pushbike'. However, he decided to stop uploading them due to the relentless abuse from critics who accused him of persecuting motorists and the theft of his £620 bicycle. In his announcement on X, the TV personality wrote: 'I'm stopping my cycling videos. The trolling just got too bad. They have had well over 100 million views but in the end the anger they generate has genuinely upset me.' He said a 'regular theme' from haters was to see him 'crushed by a truck' and posted screenshots of nasty comments, including one which said: 'Surely this "man" has to be England's biggest a***hole. It mad be terrible but I hope he falls under the wheels of five cars that reverse and make sure the jobs done'. The Channel 5 debate show host has even received death threats for his controversial activism with two currently being investigated by the police. In 2017, a driver who honked her horn and shouted abuse at Vine was convicted of threatening behaviour and a driving offence. He caught the incident on his camera and uploaded it to Facebook where it was viewed over 15 million times. 'I know I've sometimes got a little cross when a driver has, say, pulled out without looking, but I only ever uploaded the film to show the danger,' he added in his X post. Whilst he no longer posts his footage online, Vine, who 'never made a penny' from the videos, continues to film and report law-breaking drivers in an effort to improve safety on London's dangerous roads. He said will miss the 'creative freedom' that he had in making the videos - which became more elaborate in their edits as he got better at making them. 'Some of the biggest videos were actually about the smallest incidents, like someone turning left in front of me,' he said. 'People are happy to discuss it and I actually think that we'd all be safer if we all understood each other. 'People are going to drive 4x4s in Kensington and whatnot but they need to have a bit of care for me on a bicycle. 'You might be in total control when you pass close by but the person on a bicycle doesn't know that. I just hope I was part of a dialogue about it.' Vine does believe the level of cycle awareness in the capital has actually improved in the years since people began shaming drivers online - likely because more and more people are taking to the roads on two wheels. 'It's a remarkable thing, and London has made astonishing progress. In the City of London there are more cyclists than drivers,' he said. A recent official Corporation study that found bikes make up 56 per cent of peak time traffic. One in six of those bicycles are dockless hire bikes, such as those operated by Lime and Forest. The upturn means the City smashed a 2017 target to boost cycling by 50 per cent by 2030. It has already increased by 70 per cent as of 2024. Despite this, Vine does think that there will still be arrogant drivers who see the roads as theirs and theirs alone. He joked: 'The key thing to remember is that there is no amount of bad driving anywhere that can't be blamed on a passing cyclist.'
Scottish Sun
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Inside the old tube station being converted into a Wetherspoons with original ticket hall
YESTERDAY JD Wetherspoons announced a number of new pubs opening across the UK in the upcoming years - one of which will be in an old tube station entrance. The pub will be located in one of the former entrances of Fulham Broadway tube station, that closed in 2003. 6 The Market Hall used the ticket booth as a bar Credit: Market hall 6 The Edwardian ticket hall originally opened in 1880 Credit: Market hall 6 In 2018, it was converted into a Market Hall food court Credit: Alamy The site currently includes the original Edwardian ticket office, including a vintage 'To The Trains' sign. It is thought the original features will be kept and the pub will include a new beer garden roof terrace. It is also understood that the pub will be named Walham Green and open on June 17. Having originally opened in March 1880 as Walham Green, the station used to operate the District Railway, which is now known as the District Line. The original station building was then later replaced in 1905 with a new entrance designed by Harry W Ford, the architect to the District Railway, to accommodate larger crowds heading from the newly built Stamford Bridge Stadium. The name of the station was then changed in 1952. The Grade II listed even featured in the 1978 Ian Dury song 'What a Waste'. In the early 2000s, a new ticket hall was built, as well as a station control room and step free access. A 'match day' staircase was even added to the far end of the station for when fans attended Chelsea F.C. games. One of the UK's prettiest Wetherspoons is in an up-and-coming seaside town Following the closure of the historic entrance in 2003, the original station building has been refurbished but many of the original station signs and architectural features were retained. The venue stood empty and abandoned for several years before Market Hall Fulham opened at the site in 2018 as a food court, with the bar in the Edwardian ticket office. The venue was home to nine food operators and a communal dining area with a capacity of 180 people. There were also six British craft beers on keg draught, plus a range of bottles and cans available. The food court would rotate the beers from top UK breweries. 6 The pub is believed to be opening as the 'Walham Green' Credit: Market hall 6 Original features include vintage signs and architectural features Credit: Alamy 6 The original entrance was closed in 2003 Credit: Historic England Following the Market Hall's closure in 2021, the site is now being converted into a new Wetherspoons venue, over two floors. A total of 15 new Wetherspoons pubs will be coming to the UK, with two new pubs already unveiled this year in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and at London Waterloo station. Six locations have opening dates already and a further nine sites will open by July 2026. The Sun's Kara Godfrey went to prettiest Wetherspoons in the UK – it's right by the beach with huge stained glass windows Plus, the UK's 11 prettiest Wetherspoons from former opera halls to Victorian bath houses.
The Sun
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Inside the old tube station being converted into a Wetherspoons with original ticket hall
YESTERDAY JD Wetherspoons announced a number of new pubs opening across the UK in the upcoming years - one of which will be in an old tube station entrance. The pub will be located in one of the former entrances of Fulham Broadway tube station, that closed in 2003. 6 6 6 The site currently includes the original Edwardian ticket office, including a vintage 'To The Trains' sign. It is thought the original features will be kept and the pub will include a new beer garden roof terrace. It is also understood that the pub will be named Walham Green and open on June 17. Having originally opened in March 1880 as Walham Green, the station used to operate the District Railway, which is now known as the District Line. The original station building was then later replaced in 1905 with a new entrance designed by Harry W Ford, the architect to the District Railway, to accommodate larger crowds heading from the newly built Stamford Bridge Stadium. The name of the station was then changed in 1952. The Grade II listed even featured in the 1978 Ian Dury song 'What a Waste'. In the early 2000s, a new ticket hall was built, as well as a station control room and step free access. A 'match day' staircase was even added to the far end of the station for when fans attended Chelsea F.C. games. One of the UK's prettiest Wetherspoons is in an up-and-coming seaside town Following the closure of the historic entrance in 2003, the original station building has been refurbished but many of the original station signs and architectural features were retained. The venue stood empty and abandoned for several years before Market Hall Fulham opened at the site in 2018 as a food court, with the bar in the Edwardian ticket office. The venue was home to nine food operators and a communal dining area with a capacity of 180 people. There were also six British craft beers on keg draught, plus a range of bottles and cans available. The food court would rotate the beers from top UK breweries. 6 6 6 Following the Market Hall's closure in 2021, the site is now being converted into a new Wetherspoons venue, over two floors. A total of 15 new Wetherspoons pubs will be coming to the UK, with two new pubs already unveiled this year in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and at London Waterloo station. Six locations have opening dates already and a further nine sites will open by July 2026.
