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Sir Rod Stewart has said he wants to provide more free MRI scans for NHS patients but “can’t get any response”.

The star also supports the doctors’ and nurses’ strikes, saying he is “well on their side”.

Sir Rod paid for members of the public to have scans in a mobile unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex in February.

He pledged to help during a Sky News phone-in about the state of the NHS in January, having just returned from a scan himself.

“I said when I did Sky TV that I want to try and do them all over the country,” he explained.

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Sir Rod Stewart calls Sky News

“I’m not going to show up and be photographed, I just wanted to do it.”

He is struggling to make progress, however.

“It’s like banging your head against a brick wall,” he said. “I can’t get any response.

“People are crying out for MRIs, (and) I’m willing to pay for them, 30 or 40 in a few hours, and I can’t get anybody to do it for me.”

He continued: “I want to keep it going. I don’t want it to look like it was a publicity stunt.

“I didn’t have an album coming out or anything… I wanted the people to know I was doing it, but now I want it to go on and on and on and I’m not getting any response.”

Sir Rod Stewart takes a selfie with members of staff at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex. The musician is meeting patients and medics at the hospital after he called a phone-in segment on live Sky News in January, and offered to pay for people to have hospital scans, amid the rising number of people on NHS waiting lists. Picture date: Friday February 24, 2023.
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Sir Rod Stewart takes a selfie with members of staff

Read more:
Health secretary to pursue legal action to stop nurses’ strike
Nurses strikes: Union boss says members are being ‘treated as criminals’

Regarding the strikes, Sir Rod said staff are “absolutely right”, adding: “I’m well on their side. I was absolutely with them, they come before anything.”

He is performing in the UK this summer with Boy George and Culture Club as his support act.

Talking about Boy George, Sir Rod said: “We go back a long way, we’ve had some fun times together.

“I can’t wait to get with him. He’s a lovely fella and I know he loves me too – it’s love all round.”

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McIlroy wins Masters to complete career Grand Slam – follow latest reaction

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Rory McIlroy claims career Grand Slam with US Masters win

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Rory McIlroy claims career Grand Slam with US Masters win

Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.

The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.

McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP

“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.

“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”

McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.

Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.

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Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.

The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.

How did McIlroy get to the victory?

McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.

The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.

The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.

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Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way

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Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way

Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.

The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.

It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.

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British Steel: What happens next?

Companies including Tata – which ran the now-closed Port Talbot steelworks – and Rainham Steel have offered managerial support and materials to keep the Lincolnshire site running.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.

“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.

“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”

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British Steel Ltd steelworks in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire
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Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks

Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.

It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.

Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.

However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.

Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.

“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”

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‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’

Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.

The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.

The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.

Read more:
A sticking plaster, not a solution: What next for British Steel?
How Trump, China and Reform all played their part

Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “The Labour Government have landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making.

“They’ve made poor decisions and let the unions dictate their actions.”

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