Connect with us

Published

on

Hopes of a bank holiday ahead of the coronation weekend have been dealt a blow, amid warnings it will clash with next year’s local elections.

King Charles III will be crowned at a ceremony on Saturday 6 May.

The government has said it is considering all options, including creating an extra day off or moving the scheduled 1 May bank holiday to give people a long weekend to mark the historic occasion.

Labour has also backed shifting the May Day bank holiday to coincide with the coronation.

But concerns have been raised over making Friday 5 May 2023 a national holiday because of votes being counted from local elections held in England on Thursday 4 May.

The Association of Electoral Administrators is seeking early clarification from the government.

Peter Stanyon, the organisation’s chief executive, said: “A potential Friday bank holiday on 5 May 2023 may cause logistical issues, particularly around recruiting the large numbers of staff needed to work at election counts.

More on The King

“With the coronation being such an historic occasion, people will of course want to celebrate with family and friends and take part in local and national events.

“A bank holiday on Monday 8 May would be much more manageable from an electoral perspective.

“Regardless of the decision, we would welcome certainty as soon as possible.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

King coronation details announced

There is a precedent for moving the bank holiday to a Friday, as happened to create a long weekend to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May 2020.

However, local, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections were postponed that year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more:
What will happen at King’s coronation?
Why will Camilla be crowned and what will ‘simple’ ceremony be like?
The life of Queen Elizabeth – a ‘selfless’ monarch who made Britain proud

Next year’s local polls will be the first major electoral test for Liz Truss’s embattled government, with votes being held in scores of district councils, unitary authorities and metropolitan boroughs.

The coronation will take place in Westminster Abbey, eight months after the monarch’s accession and the death of the Queen.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed the Queen Consort will be crowned alongside the King.

The palace said the ceremony would “reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future” while staying “rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry”.

The Queen’s coronation on 2 June 1953 was three hours long and had a congregation of 8,000 dignitaries.

The event was broadcast live on television, attracting record-breaking audiences around the world.

Charles’s coronation is expected to be on a smaller scale and shorter, with suggestions that it could last just one hour with around 2,000 guests.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Coronation is a ‘one-off cost’

However, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has argued the King’s coronation “needs to be done properly” despite the cost of living crisis and recent economic turmoil.

Speaking to Sky News earlier this week he said: “Nobody is talking about a coronation that will cost billions of pounds.

“I hope we see a coronation that is sufficiently dignified for our sovereign. This is a one-off cost.

“The last one was for a coronation for a reign of 70 years. So, this is not something that happens often, it needs to be done properly.”

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Although the King succeeded the throne when the Queen died, the coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch’s regal power.

The King will be 74 next May, making him the oldest person to be crowned in British history.

The service has been held in Westminster Abbey for 900 years.

Continue Reading

UK

Boy, 16, shot dead in south London

Published

on

By

Boy, 16, shot dead in south London

A teenage boy has been shot dead in south London.

The Metropolitan Police said the 16-year-old was killed on Paradise Road, near Stockwell Tube Station.

Officers were called to the scene around 3.20pm on Tuesday to reports of a shooting.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance, the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement, the Met Police said that no arrests had been made and it had launched a murder investigation.

Officers were also working to identify the teenager and contact his next of kin.

‘Enormously shocking incident’

Superintendent Gabriel Cameron said: “This is an enormously shocking incident which I imagine will cause huge distress to the local community.

“Our thoughts are with the young boy’s family at this devastating time.

“Local officers are on the scene gathering CCTV and speaking to witnesses to piece together what has happened.

“They will be supported by specialist homicide investigators shortly.”

He added that police would work “around the clock” to find the perpetrators.

Continue Reading

UK

Bill Dare: Spitting Image producer dies after accident abroad

Published

on

By

Bill Dare: Spitting Image producer dies after accident abroad

Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.

Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.

Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.

Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.

Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.

In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.

A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.

“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.

“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”

Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Image:
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock

Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.

Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”

David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”

Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.

She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.

“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.

“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”

Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.

“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”

Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”

Read more from Sky News:
Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years dies
With Love, Meghan: What we learnt from new Netflix series
The Crown actor ‘told to attend police interview’

Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.

“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.

“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.

“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.

“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.

“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”

Continue Reading

UK

‘Corrupt’ ex-prison officer who boasted about performing sex act on inmate jailed

Published

on

By

'Corrupt' ex-prison officer who boasted about performing sex act on inmate jailed

An ex-prison officer who boasted about performing a sex act on an inmate who “manipulated” her has been jailed. 

Mother-of-one Katie Evans, 26, burst into tears in court as the judge described how she was “corrupted” by an “experienced criminal” not long after she started work at Doncaster Prison when she was just 21.

As well as starting an intimate relationship with the prisoner, Daniel Brownley, Evans had more than 140 phone calls with him, moved money around bank accounts for him, and supplied him with information the prison held on him, the court heard.

Brownley had been jailed in 2016 for attempted robbery, burglary and handling stolen goods, the court heard.

“It appears you indulged in some form of sexual activity in the prison. It has been described that on one occasion you had oral sex with him,” Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Evans at Sheffield Crown Court.

“It is truly a terrible situation for a judge to be passing sentence on a former prison officer who has been branded a corrupt prison officer.”

Judge Richardson told Evans “he corrupted you and not the reverse”, adding: “I’m entirely satisfied you were manipulated by an experienced criminal to assist him.”

He said Evans was “young and immature” at the time but added: “Your misconduct materially affected the good order and discipline of the prison.”

“You were inexperienced and immature but that is, however, no excuse for what you did.”

Read more from Sky News:
What we learnt from Meghan’s new Netflix show
Man given life sentence for murdering son’s girlfriend

Judge Richardson said the sentence of 21 months should have been longer but, “purely as an act of mercy”, he reduced it to take into account the effect it will have on Evans’ relationship with her young daughter and the difficulties she will have in prison as a former officer.

Evans, of Hatfield, Doncaster, admitted misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing.

Still crying, she waved at family members in the public gallery as she was led from the dock.

Continue Reading

Trending