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Lese-Ansicht

Mel B ‘heartbroken’ by Windrush scandal victims’ fight for justice

Public figures back commissioner’s call for government commitment to funding legal support for those affected

The singer and television personality Mel B has said she is “heartbroken” by the Windrush scandal victims’ fight for justice, as the Windrush commissioner urged ministers to commit to providing funding for legal support for those affected by the end of October.

In April, the Guardian revealed that the Home Office had refused to pay compensation in more than half the claims made by victims of the scandal, in which mainly Black Britons who came legally to postwar Britain were wrongly stripped of citizenship and settlement rights.

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© Photograph: Warner Bros. TV/Getty Images

© Photograph: Warner Bros. TV/Getty Images

© Photograph: Warner Bros. TV/Getty Images

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The Great British Bake Off review – Nigella is wise, generous … and perfect for this national treasure of a show

The newest judge on the culinary competition is a soothing presence who is the ideal complement to Paul Hollywood. Long may the show continue with her on it

There’s a very good argument to be made for requiring a national referendum on whether presenters of shows that are part of our cultural identity should be allowed to leave, followed by – if necessary – a vote on who should replace them. At the very least, this would avoid the parlous state of affairs we face right now: at the very moment the public is grappling with the new-look Strictly Come Dancing (Tess and Claudia replaced by Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe, three whole different people!) we are asked to cope with a change to the order of the tented universe too.

For The Great British Bake Off lineup has replaced Prue Leith (who stepped down after deciding that, at 86, she would quite like to go back to having holidays instead of filming the series all summer) with – the one! The only! – Nigella Lawson.

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© Photograph: Channel 4/PA

© Photograph: Channel 4/PA

© Photograph: Channel 4/PA

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‘Eating is my superpower’: Nigella turns up the heat on Bake Off

The domestic goddess is about to be let loose in the Bake Off tent. Nigella Lawson and Paul Hollywood spill the beans about bonding over dirty martinis, ‘Professor Precision’ – and why they call themselves the Salty Gang

Like the Cleopatra of cake, new Great British Bake Off judge Nigella Lawson reclines on a chaise longue throughout our interview, gently fanning herself. Fellow judge Paul Hollywood chuckles from a nearby armchair. “She’d sit like this between takes in the tent,” he says indulgently. “Reading a book and sipping a coffee while someone fed her grapes.” “Peeled grapes,” specifies Lawson with a grin.

After Prue Leith stepped down from soggy bottom-spotting duties in January – on the unarguable basis that “I’m 86, for goodness sake!” – there was widespread jubilation when Lawson was announced as her replacement. The arrival of the domestic goddess has created serious buzz around Bake Off’s upcoming series. A contest that was at risk of growing stale has become essential viewing again, thanks to the velvet-voiced, spatula-licking doyenne of culinary TV.

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© Photograph: Patch Dolan/Patch Dolan / Channel 4

© Photograph: Patch Dolan/Patch Dolan / Channel 4

© Photograph: Patch Dolan/Patch Dolan / Channel 4

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Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings by Jared Diamond review – how to change the course of history

The author of Guns, Germs and Steel falters in this flawed study of whether individuals really make a difference

Early in this book, Jared Diamond proudly introduces “what I term ‘the Hamlet test’”, which helps decide whether prominent individuals really make a difference, or whether others might have done just as well. Among William Shakespeare’s contemporaries on the Elizabethan stage, he explains, were “Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and John Webster. But not even their best plays remotely approach in quality Hamlet and Shakespeare’s other masterpieces.” It follows, for Diamond, that Shakespeare was indeed “uniquely talented”: “We can be confident that no Elizabethan other than Shakespeare could have written a masterpiece like Hamlet if Shakespeare hadn’t done so.”

One obvious problem with this is that Marlowe was stabbed to death in a pub in Deptford in 1593 at the age of 29, having already written the absolute bangers Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine, as well as – so it is now thought – co-writing the Henry VI trilogy with the up-and-coming Shakespeare. Shakespeare himself did not begin to compose his major tragedies, including Hamlet, until he was a decade older. So we can’t rule out the possibility that, had Marlowe lived another 10 years, he would have matched or even exceeded his colleague’s genius. Scholars widely agree that Hamlet and Shakespeare’s other masterpieces were possible only thanks to the outsized influence of Marlowe.

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© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

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Mike Mazzei, Backed by Trump, Wins Oklahoma Primary for Governor

Mike Mazzei, a former state senator who lent more than $11 million of his own money to his campaign, narrowly defeated the state’s attorney general, Gentner Drummond.

© Jake Ramsey/Oklahoma Watch, via Associated Press

Mike Mazzei delivering his closing remarks at a televised debate this month in the Oklahoma Republican governor’s race.
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Graham, and Trump, Triumph: Six Takeaways From South Carolina’s Senate Runoff

President Trump went all in for Senator Darline Graham in a primary runoff on Tuesday. It worked, preserving his undefeated streak in Republican Senate primaries this year.

© Sean Rayford for The New York Times

Senator Darline Graham’s victory on Tuesday showed President Trump’s continued ability to move Republican primary voters, especially when he goes all in on a race.
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5 Things to Know About Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma G.O.P. Candidate for Governor

Mr. Drummond, the state attorney general, faces an opponent backed by President Trump and Gov. Kevin Stitt. The campaign has highlighted his independent streak.

© Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma’s attorney general, in Oklahoma City in 2023.
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The Guide #250: All the US/UK cultural crossovers you may have missed but need to read about

In this week’s newsletter: A tour through the moments when American celebrities crossed the ocean and landed somewhere entirely unexpected

Hurrah! Today is the Guide’s 250th instalment, an anniversary celebrated the world over, with concerts and ticker tape parades and 10-part documentaries about its historical significance. You’re probably already a bit exhausted by all the wall-to-wall coverage, in fact. Also tomorrow, the United States of America might be celebrating some birthday or other, though it doesn’t sound like anybody is terribly fussed about it.

To mark both anniversaries, this week’s Guide is a “special relationship” special, with 25 of the most unlikely US/UK pop-cultural crossovers – those moments where American celebrities find themselves rubbing their stardust, intentionally or otherwise, all over weird corners of British popular culture, or vice versa. Read on for tales of Orson Welles in Norwich and Matt Berry at the Oscars.

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© Composite: BBC/Capital/ITV

© Composite: BBC/Capital/ITV

© Composite: BBC/Capital/ITV

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Keisha Lance Bottoms Was Atlanta’s Mayor in the Pandemic. Can She Win the Governor’s Race?

Keisha Lance Bottoms is the Democrats’ front-runner as the primary approaches. But her party rivals are trying to ensure she has to face a runoff.

© Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Keisha Lance Bottoms arriving this month to vote early in the Georgia primary.
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‘It’ll be in my Guardian obituary’: David Balfe on inspiring Blur’s Country House and tripping on Top of the Pops

He was the burned-out bigwig who moved to a very big house. Now back with his first music for decades, he talks about signing the Proclaimers, being punched by Julian Cope – and his Scott Walker-inspired trio

David Balfe has had quite a life. In the Teardrop Explodes, he took amyl nitrate on The Old Grey Whistle Test and acid on Top of the Pops. As a music publisher he’s been involved with a multitude of bands from the KLF to the Proclaimers, and his record label signed Blur when they were called Seymour. However, he’ll probably be most remembered as the man immortalised in their 1995 smash Country House. “Balfey” actually lived “in a house, a very big house in the country.”

“That’s going to be the first thing mentioned in my Guardian obituary,” he chuckles. “I’m aware that the song isn’t exactly a paean to my greatness, but I’m genuinely proud about it. It’s the one thing you can casually drop into a dinner party and everybody goes, ‘What the fuck?!’”

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© Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

© Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

© Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

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Richard Desmond loses £1.3bn damages battle over national lottery licence

Media tycoon vows to appeal after dismissal of action against Gambling Commission for awarding Allwyn the franchise

The media tycoon Richard Desmond has vowed to appeal after a resounding defeat in his claim for up to £1.3bn in damages from the Gambling Commission over its decision not to award him the 10-year licence to run the national lottery.

Mrs Justice Smith dismissed Desmond’s claim on Friday, in a sometimes scathing written high court judgment that reserved particular criticism for “inexcusable” failings on the part of Desmond’s legal team.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Swalwell’s Fall Punctuates Woes of Democrats in California, of All Places

Democrats have struggled to find a candidate for governor who can capture the imagination of voters in one of their most important strongholds.

© Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times

The California governor’s race has attracted a wide range of Democratic candidates. A gathering in San Francisco in February drew, from left, Tony Thurmond, Matt Mahan, Tom Steyer, Betty Yee, Eric Swalwell, Xavier Becerra, and Katie Porter. Mr. Swalwell dropped out of the race on Sunday.
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