Should the government be doing more to tackle energy prices?

COVID pandemic unless the government takes immediate action.Earlier this week, five organisations representing the UK hospitality sector penned an open letter to the UK government, highlighting “rocketing energy prices” that are forecast to become “a matter of existential emergency” later this year – and demanding that the government act soon to prevent a catastrophe to UK culture.In the hospitality sector, operators are facing average annual bill increases in the region of at least 300 per cent, meaning that many businesses and jobs in the sector are “at grave risk”.Now, Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd has spoken to NME of the true threat posed by the looming price rise, comparing it to the COVID pandemic which at one point saw 93 per cent of the UK’s grassroots music venues were under threat of being closed forever due to losses caused by restrictions.“Without action from the government, we are now modelling that this will close more venues than the pandemic,” he argued. “We don’t see any other outcome.”He continued: “It feels weird to say it, but unlike during COVID when you could go, ‘OK, we need to raise some money now because in a year’s time the venues will be open’, we can’t do that now because they’ll have to pay another electricity bill next year and the year after that, obviously.

While Salman Rushdie struggles for his life in the wake of a stabbing attack, an angry Bill Maher decried the treatment of his good friend (and frequent guest) by a man whose name had the host guessing”is not Amish.”

Manchester United have reportedly 'made contact' with Paris Saint-Germain as they look to make a move for Mauro Icardi.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe New York component of this fall’s consciousness-raising Global Citizen Festival will bring together artists as stylistically diverse as Mariah Carey, Metallica, Maneskin, Rosalia, Mickey Guyton, Charlie Puth and the Jonas Brothers — with a “bonus Jonas,” as it were, in the form of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the activist who’ll host for the live audience in Central Park Sept. 24 as well as an ABC broadcast special the following night.The stars will shine as brightly far away from Manhattan, as well, in Accra, Ghana, where the other half of the event will go down — also on Sept.

Fuel prices remain high in the UK, despite the average price of petrol falling in July by nearly 9p (8.74p).

An energy boss has called for the government to do more to help customers struggling with the cost of living crisis.

Apple TV+ has ordered the six-episode series Land of Women, a dramedy inspired by Sandra Barneda’s best-selling novel of the same name, from executive producer and star Eva Longoria (Flamin’ Hot, Sylvie’s Love). Carmen Maura (Volver, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) is set to costar.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered the limited dramedy series “Land of Women” with Eva Longoria and Carmen Maura set to star.The six-episode series is based on the Sandra Barneda novel of the same name. Longoria will star as Gala, a New York empty nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties, and she is forced to flee the city alongside her aging mother (Maura) and college-age daughter.To escape the dangerous criminals to whom Gala’s now vanished husband is indebted, the three women hide in the same charming wine town in Northern Spain that Gala’s mother fled 50 years ago, vowing never to return.

Martin Lewis has demanded 'action and planning now' from the UK Government over the skyrocketing energy bills after new analysis suggested they are likely to hit £4,200 for some households in January.

The UK Government has submitted its full written statement to the Supreme Court arguing against the Scottish Parliament holding another independence referendum. Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain was asked by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to refer the Bill to judges in London to decide if Holyrood has the power to hold a referendum without the consent of Westminster.

Activists have stormed the Scottish Power headquarters in Glasgow in protest against soaring energy prices. Tens of people marched from Gordon Street to the head office building on St Vincent Street in the city centre this afternoon, to condemn the hike which comes amid the cost of living crisis.

The Met Office has issued an amber warning for extreme heat as temperatures begin to soar across parts of Greater Manchester towards the end of this week.

Paramount+ has set the lead cast for its upcoming drama series Sexy Beast, the prequel to the 2000 cult British gangster movie, which is set to premiere in 2023.

Council leaders in Manchester have once again made an appeal to the government over plans for the HS2 network in Manchester.

Prince Harry has filed a second lawsuit against the government over the decision not to allow him to pay for police protection when he visits the UK.The Duke of Sussex began a legal challenge against the Home Office after his taxpayer-funded security was removed in 2020 following his announcement that he had stepped down as a working royal. He previously said it was unsafe to come to Britain with his wife, Meghan Markle, and two children, Archie and Lilibet without police protection.

The Scottish Government has spent nearly £30,000 on legal advice on referring its draft indyref2 bill to the Supreme Court.

Ministers waging a bitter battle over royal diaries and letters may be trying to cover up an affair of Prince Philip’s, a historian claims. Author Andrew Lownie estimates the Government has spent around £2 million trying to stop him seeing all the archive left by Philip’s uncle Lord Mountbatten and his wife.