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Ballots being counted at Mill House Leisure Centre in Hartlepool. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

Friday briefing: Labour facing losses in Hartlepool and across councils

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Ballots being counted at Mill House Leisure Centre in Hartlepool. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

Party all but concedes historic defeat … deaths from alcohol misuse at 20-year high … and Olivia Rodrigo on making the year’s biggest hit

Top story: ‘We are not close to winning this’

Hello, Warren Murray bringing you the last Briefing of the week. Eyes to the skies this weekend for bits of Chinese rocket – although the UK seems to be out of the splash/crash zone.

Labour has all but conceded defeat in the crucial Hartlepool byelection after a Conservative onslaught saw Boris Johnson’s party poised to win the seat for the first time in 62 years. It came amid early signs of a torrid night in the local elections in England, with voters deserting the party for the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and in some cases the Green party. Ballots continue to be tallied up across England, Scotland and Wales following the Super Thursday polls – the largest test of political opinion outside a general election. Follow the latest results with our live tracker.

The expected loss of Hartlepool would leave Labour’s leader, Keir Starmer, facing huge questions over the future direction of his party as yet more of its lifelong supporters vote Conservative. It would be only the second time in nearly 40 years that a governing party has taken a seat from the opposition. Labour appeared to concede defeat in Hartlepool shortly before 3am on Friday. Jim McMahon, the shadow minister who ran the party’s byelection campaign, said: “It’s pretty clear from the way that the ballots are landing that we are not close to winning this despite our best endeavours.” Andy Sparrow has this morning fired up our live blog coverage of all the results and reaction.


£102bn to save NHS – Spending on the health service, social care and public health needs to rise by £102bn over the next decade, funded by big tax rises, an inquiry has said. The boost would cut avoidable deaths from cancer and heart disease, tackle health inequalities and rebuild the NHS, according to a four-year commission of inquiry by the London School of Economics and the Lancet medical journal. Its report warns Boris Johnson to drop his planned reorganisation of the NHS in England, due to feature in next week’s Queen’s speech, which it said will be disruptive and bring no benefits. It urges ministers and the NHS to fight preventable illnesses by cracking down on smoking, drinking and poor diet; and proposes an end to chronic staff shortages through the creation of a sustainable supply of healthcare workers.


E171 food additive may be unsafe – Titanium dioxide or E171, a food colouring used in products sold in the UK ranging from chewing gum and white chocolate to toothpaste and sauces for toddlers, can no longer be ruled out as a cause of cancer, the European Food Safety Authority has said. The EU health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, said the bloc would propose to ban its use. The UK Food Standards Agency has said its scientific advisory committees will examine the European determination to help decide what to do in Britain. The French government announced a ban in 2019, but it is still used in other EU member states.


Choose your shot – A choice of Covid vaccines is to be extended to anyone up to the age of 40, after a recommendation by the government’s advisory body to allow more people to opt out of the AstraZeneca shot. Very small numbers of people out of millions vaccinated have suffered from blood clots in the veins and the brain, in combination with low platelets. From India, the author Jeet Thayil describes how “oxygen is the new currency” as the virus continues to rack his country. Japan is to extend a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until at least the end of the month in an attempt to arrest a surge in cases less than 80 days before the start of the Olympics. More coronavirus developments at our live blog.


Covid brings rise in alcohol deaths – Deaths from alcohol misuse reached a 20-year high in England and Wales as coronavirus took hold in 2020, official data shows. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested deaths were likely concentrated among people with long-term drink problems. Four out of five alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 were from alcoholic liver disease; 10% were from mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use; and 6% from accidental alcohol poisoning. There are separate findings this morning that heavy consumption of sugary drinks may raise the risk of developing bowel cancer before age 50. Research using the dietary and medical records of more than 95,000 women found those who consumed more than a pint of sugary drink a day were twice as likely to be diagnosed with early onset bowel cancer than those who drank less than half a pint.


RAF photos help resurrect woodland – The National Trust is reconstructing a 19th-century landscape at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk using an Edwardian survey map and aerial photographs taken by the RAF after the second world war. The £190,000 decade-long project will replant native trees in the Grade II-listed landscape, making it one of the largest wood pastures the charity has ever created.

Workers dig out a moat at Oxburgh Hall, 1900-1910. Photograph: National Trust

The trust bought Oxburgh Hall in 1951 to save it from demolition and much of its original 1,442 hectare (3,563 acre) estate was auctioned and converted to farmland. In 2017 the charity acquired an additional 51 hectares, and now work is under way to restore 70 hectares of the original 162 hectares of parkland habitat.

Today in Focus podcast: The Noel Clarke allegations

Journalists Lucy Osborne and Sirin Kale discuss the allegations of verbal abuse, bullying and sexual harassment by 20 women against Clarke. Through his lawyers, Clarke has categorically denied allegations that the Guardian put to him, saying he “vehemently” denied “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing” and intended to defend himself against what he called “these false allegations”.

Today in Focus

The Noel Clarke allegations

00:00:00
00:30:09

Lunchtime read: ‘Heartbreak and longing’

The Drivers License singer Olivia Rodrigo reflects on turning her first big breakup into the year’s biggest hit – and how songwriting saved her from the anxieties of being a Disney star.

Olivia Rodrigo. Photograph: Grant Spanier

Sport

Warren Gatland has dropped a bombshell by leaving the England prop Kyle Sinckler out of his British & Irish Lions squad for the “brutal” tour of South Africa. Mikel Arteta admitted he was “devastated” after being outwitted by his predecessor, Unai Emery, as Villarreal knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League at the semi-final stage. The Spanish side will face Manchester United in the final, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side falling to defeat against Roma in the semi-final second leg. Solskjær hit out after the 8-5 aggregate victory over the “impossible” fixture pile-up his side now faces.

UK Sport plans to bring nearly 100 major sporting events over the next decade to Britain, including the 2030 World Cup and 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, as part of a new 10-year strategy to create “the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments”. Newcastle United’s owner, Mike Ashley, has claimed “dark forces” are preventing the struggling Premier League club from emerging as a football superpower. And Lewis Hamilton has said he will not be drawn into mind games against his Red Bull rivals during his attempt to secure his eighth Formula One world championship.

Business

Asian shares have risen on optimism about the rally on Wall Street and an economic rebound in the US, as investors await the release of jobs data. The FTSE is going to open 0.5% higher based on current numbers. A pound is worth $1.390 and €1.152 at time of writing.

The papers

“Find £102bn to rebuild the NHS, experts tell ministers” is our Guardian front-page lead today. The main picture: “Windrush victory: woman whose court win gives hope to thousands”. The high court has ruled there was “a colossal interference” in Lynda Mahabir’s right to family life when the Home Office unlawfully prevented her children and husband from joining her in the UK, separating the family for almost three years.

Guardian front page, Friday 7 May 2021.

Much mockery around the other fronts of French fishing vessels’ Jersey sortie. “Smash & crab” says the Metro, reporting that one French fishing boat “rammed a pleasure boat” before retreating by lunchtime. The Mail characterises it as “Le Grand Surrender”, saying the French flotilla “beat a retreat after two Navy gunships arrived”. “Take sprat” – not the Sun’s best work.

The Times throws forward on the Jersey story with “Johnson and Macron plan peace talks” but its lead story is “Economy to grow at record pace” after upbeat news from the Bank of England. The Financial Times reports that one as “BoE forecasts fastest growth rate in 70 years as economy rebounds”. The Express is loving the news: “That’s what you call a bounce back!” The Telegraph reports “End of masks in classrooms as ministers defy unions”. “Green for go” – that’s the Mirror on the expected announcement today of which overseas destinations will get Covid green-light status for British travellers.

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