Professor Brian Cox has joined his former D:Ream bandmates on stage at Glastonbury to perform the track that became a defining political anthem of the 1990s – and seemingly again this year after its re-emergence ahead of the general election.
The TV physicist received rapturous applause from the crowd at the festival’s Glade Stage as he was brought on by frontman Peter Cunnah, providing his musical expertise on keyboards once again for sleeper hit Things Can Only Get Better.
Following its release in 1993, the song topped the charts after a remix the following year. But it was in 1997 that it really took off once again, as the official anthem of Tony Blair’s landslide victory for Labour.
Image: Cox played keyboard once again for their final song, Things Can Only Get Better, at the Glade Stage
Just ahead of their performance, Cox joined Cunnah and fellow D:Ream bandmate and co-founder Al Mackenzie to speak to Sky News about the reunion.
The TV scientist said he cleared his diary as soon as he heard they would play Glastonbury for the first time.
“It’s a long time ago, but I’ve tremendously happy memories of the early ’90s,” Cox said, adding that Things Can Only Get Better is a “joyous song about change”.
“It is a song of hope and joy, and where it comes from is to entertain people, make people happy, regardless of their political persuasions,” said Cunnah. “It’s time to forget that and just enjoy yourselves, you know?”
However, there’s no escaping its association with politics. While D:Ream had other hits with singles including Shoot Me With Your Love and U R The Best Thing, thanks to Blair’s adoption it is Things Can Only Get Better that remains their most famous hit.
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Image: Things Can Only Get Better was adopted by Labour’s Tony Blair ahead of his landslide victory in the 1997 election
“It was a remarkable moment,” said Cox. “I remember it so vividly, 1997, because we did Top Of The Pops and it’d gone back into the charts on election day. Because Top Of The Pops was going to be broadcast after the polls had closed, we were allowed to do it.”
So how do they feel about it being brought back ahead of another general election almost 30 years later, with Labour ahead of the Conservatives in the polls.
Speaking about Mr Sunak’s speech, Cunnah said: “The first time I saw it on TV, I did laugh. And then, I didn’t say the exact words, but it was, ‘oh god, not again’.
“The next thing I know, the phone’s ringing off the hook and we’re getting offers – we had an offer to get on a van and sing Things Can Only Get Better at the bottom of Downing Street from some advertising company, and we made that go away by asking for a hundred grand. It’s just funny. And apparently a whole load of new kids have found us on TikTok, so that’s no bad thing.”
Cunnah and Mackenzie were actually in the studio working on a new D:Ream album when the speech aired.
“People were phoning us, ‘you need to put the TV on’,” said Mackenzie.
Among those getting in touch was Cox. “I text them straight away. Something like, ‘oh no, not again’.”
So how do they feel about the song coming to prominence politically once more?
“I’m very pleased that twice it’s come to prominence and the Tories are going to be taken out of power, so I’m very happy,” said Mackenzie.
“I blow hot and cold on it,” said Cunnah. “I’m kind of gutted that our song’s tied to those moments in time, because I was just getting to the point where I thought, after 30 years, we’d lost the association and the song was just breathing life as itself again… but you just have to kind of get on with your life.”
Sir Keir Starmer has urged anyone with information on the Jeffrey Epstein case to come forward after Andrew Mountbatten Windsor missed the deadline to appear in front of US Congress.
US legislators have criticised Andrew for what they describe as “silence” amid their probe into Epstein after he failed to respond to their request for an interview.
When asked about Andrew missing the deadline and whether the former princeshould help the case in any way he can, Sir Keir said on his way to the G20 summit in South Africa: “I don’t comment on this particular case.”
He added that “a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it”.
Andrew is not legally obliged to talk to Congress and has always vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
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Image: Sir Keir Starmer spoke to reporters on his way to the G20 in South Africa. Pic: Reuters
It comes as Marjorie Taylor Greene, a loyal supporter-turned-critic of US President Donald Trump, said on Friday she is resigning from Congress in January.
Ms Greene’s resignation followed a public falling-out with Mr Trump in recent months, as the congresswoman criticised him for his stance on files related to Epstein, as well as on foreign policy and healthcare.
Members of the House Oversight Committee had requested a “transcribed interview” with Andrew in connection with his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein, the paedophile financier who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
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But after saying they had not heard back, Democrats Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam accused Andrew of hiding.
Their statement read: “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s silence in the face of the Oversight Democrat’s demand for testimony speaks volumes.
“The documents we’ve reviewed, along with public records and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s testimony, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.
“Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status, or political party. We will get justice for the survivors.”
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It follows Andrew being stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles earlier this month.
He had previously agreed to stop using his titles, but had expected to remain a prince and retain his dukedom, ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager – an accusation he denies.
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman in Swindon.
Police said the teenager was detained following an incident in Baydon Close, Moredon, in the Wiltshire town on Friday evening.
Officers responded to reports of disorder inside a house. When they arrived, a woman in her 50s living at the address was found to be not breathing. She was declared dead at the scene.
There were no other reported injuries.
Image: Forensic officers are at the scene to collect evidence
Detective Inspector Darren Ambrose, from Wiltshire Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “This is a serious incident in which a woman has sadly died.
“We have set up a cordon at the address while an investigation is carried out.
“I can confirm that we have arrested a teenage girl in connection with this incident and we are not looking for anyone else.”
Police have asked people not to speculate about the incident online as this could prejudice the case.
A police statement read: “Residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while we continue carrying out our enquiries into the woman’s death.
Rail fares are to be frozen for the first time in 30 years, the government has announced.
Ministers promised that millions of rail travellers will save hundreds of pounds on regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns between major cities.
The fare freeze applies to England and services run by English train operators.
People commuting to work three days a week using flexi-season tickets will save £315 a year travelling from Milton Keynes to London, £173 travelling from Woking to London and £57 from Bradford to Leeds, the government said.
The changes are part of Labour’s plans to rebuild a publicly owned Great British Railways. Other planned changes include tap in-tap out and digital ticketing, as well as investing in superfast Wi-Fi.
Image: The freeze applies to regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns. Pic: iStock
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was introducing a freeze on rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which “will ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier”.
“We all want to see cheaper rail travel, so we’re freezing fares to help millions of passengers save money,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
“Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year, meaning they keep more of their hard-earned cash.”
Rail unions and passenger groups welcomed the move, praising how it will make travel more affordable for passengers and promote more sustainable travel alternatives.
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: “More affordable fares will encourage greater use of public transport, supporting jobs, giving a shot in the arm to local economies and helping to improve the environment.”
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the rail fare freeze “will be a huge relief to working people”.
“This is the right decision, at the right time, to help passengers be able to afford to make that journey they need to take, and to help grow our railway in this country, because the railway is Britain’s green alternative – taking cars and lorries off our congested roads and moving people and goods safely around our country in an environmentally-friendly way,” Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef, said.
The Tories welcomed the move but said the government was “late to the platform”.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said: “In government, the Conservatives kept fares on the right track with below-inflation rises and consistently called for no further hikes to protect hard-working commuters.”