Conference delegates grateful ousting Starmer has paid off, but relief tempered by fiscal headwinds ahead

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Even Andy Burnham’s closest allies accept that deposing Keir Starmer to install their man as leader was a huge political gamble. But if the mood at the Labour party conference in Liverpool is anything to go by, it is one that – so far – has paid off.

The contrast with last year, when Starmer retained his grip on the party and Burnham slunk away from Liverpool early, could not be more stark. Their relief at their turn of fortune is tempered only by the fiscal headwinds ahead.

The actors are working together for the first time ever, in Noël Coward’s comedy Hay Fever. Backstage, there’s no stopping their tales of skinny-dipping, fat-shaming and warring co-stars

Richard E Grant: Despite our vast combined vintage, our paths have never crossed before, have they?

Christine Baranski: Regrettably not. We could have had some good fun a few decades ago. A girl could have got into some real trouble. But here we are, and now we’re the veterans. You’re among the great character actors, popping up delightfully in so many things and always being spot-on.

She lit up Sherlock, made a brutal exit from House of the Dragon and now she’s back in the hard-hitting Belfast-set police drama. Will she have to stuff a chopping board into her flak jacket this time round?

Sharp eyes save lives. That’s the mantra of the police officers in Blue Lights, although the words sound a good deal more urgent when said in a throaty Belfast accent. The city, dealing with past and present problems, is the turbulent setting for the hit drama. Having starred in the BBC series for the past four years, Siân Brooke has taken its lessons about vigilance to heart.

“I noticed some dodgy-looking activity not far from where we live in London,” says Brooke. “I’d driven past a few times and was suspicious. I told my husband that the last time I went past, I slowed down and did a drive-by, so they’d know their untoward behaviour had been rumbled. My husband said: ‘You can’t do that, Siân. You’re not a real cop!’” She laughs. “I think Blue Lights has got to me. What was I going to do, make a citizen’s arrest?”

Local people say members of WhatsApp group noticed suspicious activity around vans in Whelford overnight

In the early hours of Sunday morning, a resident of the village of Whelford was driving home from a party when she saw three white vans parked on a country road. She was immediately suspicious, she said, and all the more so when she spotted a “large group of hooded and balaclavaed” men. She called 999 and police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later.

The resident, who asked not to be named but reportedly is a local farmer, told the Press Association: “It would appear that by doing so I just derailed whatever they [the men] were planning. A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the airbase is on high alert. I think it’s absolutely astonishing.”

Experts share what you need to know about GLP-1-related hair loss as the side-effect gets more attention from researchers

About 20 million people across the US, UK, and EU are taking GLP-1 receptor agonists like tirzepatide and semaglutide (Ozempic or Mounjaro are common brands) for weight loss and type 2 diabetes. As their use has surged, we’re learning more about their side-effects. One that’s been getting a lot of attention from researchers lately: hair loss.

In one survey of people who take these medications, 20% of respondents experienced hair shedding, although the lack of high-quality data from a randomized, controlled trial to assess this side-effect makes it difficult to know exactly how common it is.

The PM oozes confidence and easy-going charm as he tells Laura Kuenssberg the hill he’ll die on is fixing social care

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In recent weeks there has been much speculation in some parts of the media that Andy Burnham would call an early general election. Speculation that existed largely in the heads of those writing the stories, as even the most favourable polls suggest Labour would lose its huge majority and become the largest party in a coalition government. But to stop the chatter dominating his party conference, Burnham made it clear there would be no early election. His reward? Headlines in the rightwing press that he had bottled it. By not calling an election he had never planned to call. Sometimes you just can’t win.

There again, you might call this a first-world problem for the prime minister. This time last year, Burnham had been hanging around the fringes of the conference as he and his allies attempted one of the most half-arsed coups in living memory. One that fizzled out almost before it had started and became the butt of many jokes among Keir Starmer’s inner circle. Andy looked to have blown himself up on the runway, leaving Keir safe for the duration of the parliament.

Wes Streeting indicates farmer who alerted police and said security forces had ‘dropped the ball’ only ‘had a partial picture’

UK security services were aware in advance about a group of men arrested in connection to a bomb plot against an RAF base used by the US military, Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, has indicated.

Five men were arrested on terrorism charges after armed officers found explosives in three vans parked minutes from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, which hosts US air force missions against Iran.

The foreign secretary says in conference speech that ‘democratic norms are under threat’ and that ‘international rule of law is being brazenly flouted’

Lisa O’Carroll is a senior Guardian correspondent.

The head of the SDLP, Claire Hanna, has called for an international mediator to resolve the continuing crisis over a unionist parade in a nationalist area close to Drumcree, the site of some of the worst violence of the troubles almost 30 years ago.

The truth is everybody has got to want to seek mediation and seek compromise and that’s what I’m trying to find, whether there’s that little chink on both sides that we can use to get to a decent compromise that means everybody can walk away with their head held high and their sense of honour.

Foreign secretary will tell party’s conference ‘we are not here to accept the status quo but to change it’

Ed Miliband will tell campaigners and party members who raised the plight of Palestinians they were right that Labour’s approach had not been enough, saying he was heeding the calls of millions of people by imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements.

The foreign secretary will tell the Labour party conference that the government will take more explicitly progressive foreign policy positions under Andy Burnham, and that the UK will be a leader among like-minded countries in a new age of diplomacy.

Rail operator linking London to Birmingham, the north-west and Glasgow had highest number of cancellations across network

Avanti West Coast will be renationalised in spring, as Andy Burnham declares “enough is enough” for passengers who have put up with a rail service “that has failed them time and time again”.

The rail operator, which is one of the worst in the country for train delays and cancellations, will come under public ownership from 7 March when its contract ends.