All the bleak tenderness from the musician’s novel makes it into this heartbreaking screen adaptation of a father-and-son road trip where the dad relentlessly pursues sex. It will undo you

The travelling salesman used to be a stock figure – a centrepiece for jokes about man’s priapism, the untameable wanderlust of the peen once free of its domestic shackles. The Death of Bunny Munro, adapted from Nick Cave’s 2009 book of the same name by Pete Jackson and keeping all its bleak tenderness and unforgiving brutality, gives us the tragedy that lies the other side of any comic character worth its salt.

Cosmetics salesman Bunny (Matt Smith, a brilliant and still underrated actor, plus the best Doctor of modern times, please send an SAE for my monograph on this subject) is out on the road, sampling another young lady’s wares, when we meet him. His wife, Libby (Sarah Greene, perfectly cast as a fierce, loving woman broken by depression and her husband’s choices) calls him. He dismisses her and returns to his sampling. When he returns the next day he finds that she has killed herself. They have a nine-year-old son, Bunny Jr, played by Rafael Mathé, who gives an absolutely wonderful, heartbreaking performance, treading the thinnest of lines between knowing everything and nothing about his father and about his own likely future. At first, Bunny Sr tries to palm him off on Libby’s mother (Lindsay Duncan), who, in a harrowing post-funeral scene, refuses. But when social services arrive to take the boy into care, Bunny’s pride or conscience is pricked. The pair light out of the window and head off on a road trip along the south coast, and a father-son bonding experience. Traditionally, these are good things. But Cave is not a traditional writer and this is not a traditional tale.

Second chambers are a good idea, but they should not be able to overturn clear decisions reached by an elected body

If ever a British institution needed assistance in dying, it is the House of Lords. Its handling of the assisted dying bill on Friday of last week, continuing this week, is all but unconstitutional. A bill passed by the House of Commons after years of public debate is being blocked by a small group of peers under the pretence of scrutiny. Their purpose is to kill the bill by filibuster and impose their religious or moral views on the free will of others. They want to deny Britons a freedom now common in many liberal nations across the western world.

When the bill came to the Lords, just seven peers were responsible for 617 of 1,034 amendments now attached to it. They included a requirement that no one should be helped to die if they have been abroad in the previous year, or unless five doctors have assessed the application, or if a doctor has discussed dying with the patient (a so-called gag clause). Many amendments flatly contradict ones considered and rejected by the Commons. They pay no deference to the support for the bill of what is now a clear majority of public opinion. The intention is not to scrutinise the bill, but to kill it by exceeding the four days allotted to it. Since it is a private member’s bill, the government has declined to help. It should now adopt it and force it through.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

From layers for your head to padded boots made in Yorkshire, our expert on keeping warm shares his hard-won expertise, learned from spending hours in the cold

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As someone who works in frontline security, standing outside bars, shops and night spots for up to 12 hours at a time – occasionally watching clubbers turn blue while waiting for a cab – I am well versed in the need to dress weather appropriately. With temperatures hitting freezing across the UK this week, here are my tips, tricks and product recommendations to keep the frostbite at bay.

It’s all about the base

As she releases music from her upcoming soundtrack to Wuthering Heights, we count down the best of her frank, futuristic tracks

Such was the extent of fan involvement in the How I’m Feeling Now album that the title of Claws was decided by online vote. The opposite of the album’s more fraught depictions of lockdown, it celebrates being trapped with someone you love, although the clanking rhythm track adds a vague sense of unease.

Here’s how to spot a genuinely good laptop deal, plus the best discounts we’ve seen so far on everything from MacBooks to gaming laptops

• Do you really need to buy a new laptop?
• How to shop smart this Black Friday

Black Friday deals have started, and if you’ve been on the lookout for a good price on a new laptop, then this could be your lucky day. But with so many websites being shouty about their Black Friday offers, the best buys aren’t always easy to spot. So before you splash the cash, it might pay to do some research – and look closely at the specification.

I know this may not be welcome advice. After all, the thought of drawing up a spreadsheet of memory configurations and pricing history might put a slight dampener on the excitement that builds as Black Friday approaches. But buy the right laptop today and you can look forward to many years of joyful productivity. Pick a duff one, and every time you open the lid you’ll be cursing your past self’s impulsive nature. So don’t get caught out; be prepared with our useful tips – and a roundup of the Filter’s favourite laptop deals.

Which players have run the furthest, taken the most long throws and fouled the most without seeing a card?

By Opta Analyst

You know that Erling Haaland is the top scorer in the Premier League and that David Raya is great at keeping them out at the other end of the pitch, but what about the quirkier metrics? Who covers the pitch but sees the penalty area as their kryptonite? Which defender loves one-v-one battles? Who prefers to shoot without taking a touch to settle themselves?

Report on handling of pandemic contains stinging criticism of ‘toxic and chaotic’ culture inside Boris Johnson’s No 10

• ‘Chaotic and indecisive’: key findings of report on UK’s Covid response under Tories

• Dominic Cummings ‘poisoned the atmosphere’ of Boris Johnson’s No 10, Covid inquiry finds

The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report on the handling of the pandemic has concluded, saying the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives.

The document also has stinging criticism of a “toxic and chaotic” culture inside Boris Johnson’s Downing Street – which it said the then prime minister actively embraced.

Updates from Perth after England won the toss and elected to bat
Ashes top 100 | Our predictions | The omens | Mail Martin

The all-too predictable pre-Ashes banter turned personal as former England spinner Monty Panesar went to relatively tame and tiresome lengths to inject himself into the conversation – and just like a medium-paced half-tracker drifting on to his pads, Steve Smith could not help but take the bait.

The back n’ forth unfortunately overshadowed the confirmation that Jake Weatherald would debut at the top of the order for Australia, and that Brendan Doggett would become just the third Indigenous cricketer to play in the men’s Test team.

Medical bodies warn that hostility towards migrants is behind a 26% rise in departures that imperils NHS

Record numbers of overseas-trained doctors are quitting the UK, leaving the NHS at risk of huge gaps in its workforce, with hostility towards migrants blamed for the exodus.

In all, 4,880 doctors who qualified in another country left the UK during 2024 – a rise of 26% on the 3,869 who did so the year before – figures from the General Medical Council reveal.

Public accounts committee calculates cost of households either evading the fee or saying they do not need TV licence

The BBC is now losing more than £1bn a year from households either evading the licence fee or deciding they do not need one, according to a cross-party group of MPs who warned the corporation is under “severe pressure”.

Attempts to enforce payment of the licence fee are also stalling. The number of visits to unlicensed homes increased by 50% last year, but it did not translate into either higher sales or successful prosecutions. BBC executives have said they face the increasing problem of householders simply refusing to answer the door.