An early election is an idea that will not die, no matter how many times Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his team try to quash it.

Burnham is piggybacking on Sir Keir Starmer’s majority, his critics say; he has no mandate of his own. If he wants to be as radical as he says he does, with ambitious spending plans, how does he pay for them? He’s constrained by tax-raising limitations in the 2024 manifesto.

Taken alongside Reform UK’s infighting, the Conservatives’ polling and the Greens being past their popularity peak, why not chance an election now, some argue.

Punters are feeling more positive. Figures released on Friday by market research company GfK showed consumer confidence rising to its highest in two years, the latest sign of sentiment seeing a “Burnham bounce”.

Are Channel crossing numbers down?

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Small Boats – Immigration

Are Channel crossing numbers down?

The French authorities have become more “effective” at stopping migrants crossing in dangerous small boats across the Channel, the UK Government has said.

The figures compared with last year

The increase in the number of small boats intercepted in the last three months compared with last year

The Home Office said, citing French figures, that since April, 61 per cent of small boats have been intercepted

The deal agreed by the UK and France in April

This includes £161m in performance-based targets

In the past few weeks, three boats were stopped – two of which were at sea.

Some 15,897 migrants have crossed the Channel, 43 per cent down on the same period last year.

Last month, a record 165 migrants reached the UK in a single boat.

The deal ‘is already having an impact’

“People smugglers should be in no doubt, we’re taking down their operations, seizing their equipment and breaking their business model for good,” said Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

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British rapper Yung Filly to face retrial on rape charges in Australia

The rapper and YouTuber who appeared on Celebrity Bake Off will face a retrial after a jury could not reach a verdict during trial.

Yung Filly denied all charges

The Colombian-born rapper, whose real name is Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, was charged with raping and assaulting a 20-year-old fan after his show in Perth 2024. He denied all 10 charges and a jury last month found him not guilty of three charges of rape.

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He was accused of raping a fan

Barrientos was accused of having consensual sex with her until he turned violent and didn’t stop when asked. His lawyer said the evidence was full of “inconsistencies, embellishments and outright lies”.

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Jurors unable to reach verdict

Last month, a jury found him not guilty on three counts of rape.

He was cleared of one assault charge and another of strangulation.

But he was found guilty of two counts of assault. Jurors were unable to make a decision on three counts of sexual penetration without consent.

Could El Niño make next year even hotter?

The naturally occurring phenomenon known as El Niño, which can drive up global temperatures and is brewing in the Pacific, could be the strongest in living memory, the Met Office has warned.

It is a climate phenomenon which occurs in the Pacific Ocean every two to seven years.

Normally, trade winds blow east to west across the equator – during and El Niño period, these weaken or reverse.

This pushes up global temperatures as warmth is taken from the ocean into the atmosphere.

El Niño’s impact has already been seen

It has already started to affect weather systems in other parts of the world, with below-average monsoons in India and suppressed hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean. In the UK, El Niño is usually felt later in winter.

A particularly strong El Niño coupled with global warming has left scientists worried that 2027 could be even warmer.

El Niño is strongest in living memory

We should be clear that........

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