During the last semi-final, The Hawkstone Farmers Choir performed Bastille’s Pompeii and managed to bag their place in the final next week but Simon Cowell had a cheeky dig at their founder Jeremy Clarkson
Simon and Jeremy are friends but Simon couldn’t resist a cheeky dig(Image: ITV)
Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell made a cheeky dig at Jeremy Clarkson on last night’s show.
The former Top Gear host founded The Hawkstone Farmers Choir after scouring the country for 34 British farmers who wanted to work together and create ads to save pubs and farms.
Earlier this year Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir auditioned for the ITV reality competition and managed to win Amanda Holden’s Golden Buzzer, sending them straight through to the semi-finals after wowing with a rendition of Elbow classic One Day Like This. Just prior to belting out the famous track, member Katrina explained to the judges that Jeremy himself had set the choir up, having been sponsored by the Hawkstone Brewery that the TV star co-owns in the Cotswolds.
At the time in response to the golden buzzer audition While visibly holding back tears Jeremy thanked Amanda Holden for pressing the Golden Buzzer. He said: “It shows that people quite like farmers. They were very very good, well done all of you. I’m a very happy man tonight.”
During the last semi-final, the 32-strong chior performed Bastille’s Pompeii and managed to bag their place in the final next week.
Simon said to the choir: “You’re not a professional choir, however I love what you stand for. It might be quite annoying to see Jeremy Clarkson‘s smug face, that’s the only downside. He’s a friend of mine. However more importantly this is about you and you did brilliantly well congratulations.”
While Simon’s comments were not all positive, it was clearly only banter between two friends.
Jeremy was over the moon at the chior’s win and in celebration filmed a short video at farm-fest with partner Kaleb Cooper. The duo filmed themselves congratulating the singers in front of a cheering crowd at Farm Fest.
It comes to something when your long-time nemesis says it is time to move on and you actually feel a little bit sad about it.
It feels like a chapter of English football is truly closing.
I actually grew to quite like Guardiola – a feeling made easier by Liverpool refusing to be any competition to his team this season.
Between his compassionate politics and his increasingly funny news conferences, the man who became the bane of our existence has started to cut a much more likeable figure.
The respect element was always there.
Yes, there are caveats to City’s success, but there are very few doubts about Guardiola’s greatness as a manager.
After Jurgen Klopp left Anfield in 2024, it seemed only natural that the man he went toe to toe with for so many years would move on fairly soon after.
The truth is, the standards those two managers set would warp our perception of what a normal title-winning points total looks like.
Arsenal have pipped Guardiola to the Premier League this season, but they have done so with a maximum of 85 points – a climbdown from the days of Liverpool and City pushing each other to 90-plus totals.
Liverpool have fallen away this season, but Guardiola moving on means the barrier to entry for a title race is likely to not be as high.
Therefore, Liverpool supporters should be reassured that a return to the top is not too far away, especially with such a talented group of players.
We might not see those 2018-2022 levels again for a little while, though, and for that we will always – at least partly – have Guardiola to thank.
OUR Spotlight On column this week is chatting all things UK – this time the seaside town of Deal.
Based in Kent, the town has boomed in popularity in recent years as ex-Londoners ditch the city for the more laid-back life by the sea.
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Here’s why you should plan a trip to DealCredit: Alamy
The Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey, who lives near Deal said: “I’m seriously impressed with the food scene – and that’s coming from someone who wouldn’t even class herself as a foodie.
“Some of the restaurants rival or even surpass London, yet retain it’s traditional, laidback ambience.
“Sure, you can get your arcade hit and fish and chips, but it has a great family feel too – and a beach so big you will never run be fighting for space”.
Here are some of her other top tips from bars to shops if deciding to visit Deal.
The brutalist Deal Pier has been through three iterations – one in 1838, destroyed by a storm, followed by one in 1864 which lasted until World War II.
The current surviving structure was opened by the then-Duke of Edinburgh in 1957.
It is worth the windy walk to the end where you can stroll past men fishing over the walls, or to grab a coffee at Deal Kitchen Pier.
Otherwise save some time for exploring the pretty high street littered with independent shops and galleries – head into Hoxton Store for the best trinkets, or Don’t Walk Walk (intentional repetition) for some unique artwork.
Deal Pier is the town’s main attractionCredit: Alamy
HIDDEN GEM
Visit on Saturday mornings to catch the bustling market that takes over Union Road car park.
It dates back to 1699 and is the kind of market that is impossible to leave without picking up something.
From flowers and soaps to groceries and sweet treats, or just your classic antiques and bric a brac, it truly has it all.
Visit early – it opens at 8am in the summer – to avoid the crowds (and get the freshest cinnamon buns).
BEST VIEW
Where better for a view of the ocean than from Deal Castle?
Built by Henry VII as a sea defence system, walk up the steps to the bastions for uninterrupted seascapes.
Send any fussy kids to the underground passageways, where they can pretend to fight off invaders with wooden muskets.
Lake Balboa resident Jose Meraz is looking for a mayor who will turn L.A. around, cleaning up streets that he says are “filled with garbage.”
Schoolteacher Tracey Schroeder, a Republican candidate for state Assembly, is unhappy about crime, open-air drug use and the slow rebuilding effort in the wake of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes.
Greg Whitley, a resident of Reseda, said he’s frustrated with homelessness and the influx of what he called “criminal illegal aliens.”
“I live with the Spanish community. Great people,” he said. “But these illegals that come here for criminal reasons, they’re making them look bad, and they don’t like it.”
All three showed up outside a five-bedroom home in Sherman Oaks on Saturday, looking to speak with reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, now waging an insurgent campaign for Los Angeles mayor in the June 2 election.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, left, poses with a supporter during a community meet-and-greet event Saturday at a home on Longridge Avenue in a residential neighborhood of Sherman Oaks.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
Standing in the entry to the home’s two-car garage, the onetime star of “The Hills” spent more than two hours shaking hands, giving hugs and posing for photos with his admirers, who waited in line under punishing San Fernando Valley sunshine.
Pratt used social media to invite the public to the campaign event, which took place in the district represented by one of his mayoral opponents, City Councilmember Nithya Raman.
He did not deliver any speeches outside the property, which is listed for rent on Zillow for $15,950 per month. He and a member of his security personnel said he was not taking interviews.
Pratt has been running in voter surveys behind Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, sometimes swapping places with Raman for second and third. He turned in a strong debate performance this month and has been outpacing his rivals in fundraising, according to the most recent disclosure reports.
While running for office, Pratt has blamed Bass for the 2025 wildfire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades, including his home. He has railed against the city’s handling of homelessness, saying he would pursue a “treatment first” approach toward people with drug addiction who are living on the street.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, back to the camera, speaks with supporters Saturday during a community meet-and-greet event.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
Pratt said recently that he wants to increase Los Angeles Police Department staffing to 12,500 officers over the next decade, up from about 8,600. Speaking with one supporter on Saturday, he said the city needs to “make sure all the laws are being enforced.”
“Plenty of functioning cities enforce their laws,” he said.
That message resonated with many of the people in line.
“He is advocating for the safety and security of our families — specifically, for mothers to be able to walk their kids to school,” said Saba Lahar, a resident of Sherman Oaks, moments after talking to the candidate.
Pratt fans dropped off ballots, picked up lawn signs and stopped to pick up coffee drinks from the Hustle N Dough doughnut truck parked out front.
Some showed up even though they cannot cast ballots in L.A.
Ruben Jr., no last name given takes a picture of his father during mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt’s community meet-and-greet Saturday in Sherman Oaks.
(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
Brian Rodda, who runs a walking food tour company, described himself as “an unsatisfied Angeleno” even though he lives in West Hollywood, which is not part of the city of L.A.
“Sadly, because I do live in West Hollywood, I cannot vote for him,” he said. “But I certainly think we need a change.”
A briefing memo obtained by The Times appears to support former Rep. Katie Porter’s accusation that a Tom Steyer staffer leaked a video of her yelling at an employee, an outburst that tainted her gubernatorial prospects when the video became public.
The video, which was obtained in October by Politico, showed Porter erupting at a staff member who appeared in the background of a prerecorded Zoom call between the former congresswoman and then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
During a nationally televised interview on CNN by Dana Bash on Monday, Porter accused the Steyer campaign of leaking the damaging video.
“I am confident that is the case,” Porter said after Bash asked how she knew Steyer was the source. “I’ve been told by many people it’s a Department of Energy video, it was only held by the Department of Energy, and people can follow the trail to who his campaign staffers are and understand what happened there.”
Following the CNN interview, Steyer’s campaign denied that the candidate was involved with the leak.
Gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer hosts an “LA Block Party” campaign event Wednesday at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park. Rocky Mosse, 9, waits his turn for a photo with Steyer.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“Tom has nothing to do with that video,” Steyer campaign spokesperson Sepi Esfahlani said after Porter levied the accusation on Monday. “This is an attempt from Katie Porter to deflect from her past mistakes. Katie Porter only has one person to blame for her standing in the race, and it’s herself.”
According to a briefing memo from the meeting obtained by The Times, Steyer spokesman Kevin Liao was listed as an “expected participant” on the video call between Granholm and Porter, which took place on June 21, 2021, and was filmed to promote electric vehicles by the Biden administration. Granholm and Liao were the only participants listed from the Energy Department, according to the document obtained by The Times.
“This is a 20 minute recorded Zoom with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to discuss the importance of investing in electric vehicles,” the document apparently prepared for Porter and her staff states. “Kevin Liao, Granholm’s press secretary, reached out to set this up. His team will edit this video down into a 2-3 minute clip for social media. Secretary Granholm will have a whiteboard, as noted in the script.”
The edited video conversation was posted on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Facebook page in early July 2021. Politico reported that the Porter staff member snapped at by the congresswoman was not the source of the video provided to the news outlet.
The clip from the Porter-Granholm call was the second unflattering video of the candidate to surface last fall. Days earlier, another clip began to circulate, showing Porter threatening to end an interview with CBS California reporter Julie Watts after becoming frustrated by Watts’ questioning.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm speaks during the UNFCCC COP29 Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2024.
Before the videos became public, Porter had a narrow edge in the race, according to a poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, though many voters at the time remained undecided. Though Porter has continued to hover in the upper tier of gubernatorial hopefuls, she currently trails behind two Democrats — Steyer and former Biden cabinet member Xavier Becerra — and one Republican, former Fox News host Steve Hilton.
The UC Irvine law professor has repeatedly said she apologized to the employee, who spent four more years working in Porter’s congressional office. Dozens of former staffers also came to her defense in an open letter last month.
Liao declined to comment when reached Wednesday evening. He is a primary spokesman for Steyer’s campaign and sent the press release announcing the San Francisco billionaire’s campaign for governor in November. Granholm, when reached via text message, denied leaking the video and said she did not know who did.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Liao, a Los Angeles-based political consultant, worked as Granholm’s press secretary from January through October 2021, during the time the Porter video was recorded. In 2024, he founded Frontrunner Strategies, a consulting firm which has been paid more than $45,000 by Steyer’s campaign, according to campaign finance records.
Porter’s campaign declined to comment on the document.
Voting is underway in the primary election to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and exploring a 2028 presidential bid.
A Wednesday Emerson College poll showed Democratic former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra leading with 19%, followed by both Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Steyer at 17%. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, had support from 11% of likely voters and Porter had 10%. San José Mayor Matt Mahan, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond were in single digits. Twelve percent of voters were undecided, according to the poll.
Top candidates, with the exception of Thurmond, are slated to appear in a Thursday night debate hosted by CBS California and the San Francisco Examiner.
Sacramento — A veteran California political consultant has agreed to plead guilty in a scheme to steal campaign funds from Xavier Becerra, now a leading candidate for governor, when he served in the Biden administration, according to filings in her criminal case on Thursday.
Dana Williamson will plead guilty to three counts, including bank fraud and lying to authorities. In exchange, the federal government will dismiss 20 other counts against her related to her tax filings and a federal COVID-era loan she received.
A court hearing is scheduled Thursday morning.
Williamson, a former chief of staff to Gov. Gavin Newsom, was arrested in November and pleaded not guilty. The government secured guilty pleas in December from two advisors who worked with alongside her to skim money from Becerra.
Prosecutors say that Williamson, Becerra’s then-chief of staff Sean McCluskie and lobbyist Greg Campbell took part in a scheme to siphon money from Becerra’s dormant campaign account and funnel it to McCluskie.
McCluskie needed the money, according to prosecutors, so he could afford to fly home frequently to see his family in California while working for Becerra, who was Biden’s health secretary, in Washington, D.C.
As part of the scheme, Williamson and another consultant charged Becerra’s account up to $10,000 a month to manage one of his dormant state campaign accounts.
Becerra approved the payments, even though he had never paid such a high amount for a similar job. He told The Times that McCluskie told him to pay the fees.
Becerra’s rivals in the governor’s race are hammering him over his decision, arguing he should have known something wasn’t right. Becerra has said that he didn’t know about the criminal behavior and has called the charges a “gut punch.”
Known as an hard-nosed and aggressive operator, Williamson’s career in politics also included working for former governors Jerry Brown and Gray Davis and mentoring other women.
McGregor Scott, Williamson’s attorney, told reporters last year that federal authorities initially approached Williamson about helping them with a probe into Newsom. She refused, he said, and was subsequently charged.
Details contained in the indictment and other public records suggest that federal authorities were looking into the state’s handling of alleged sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard Inc., a video game company.
UK PM, who is battling to remain in his job amid resignations of ministers, is expected to hold talks with Streeting.
Published On 13 May 202613 May 2026
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fighting for his political survival after dozens of his own MPs called for him to resign, promised to press ahead with plans to reform the country before an expected meeting with his potential leadership rival Wes Streeting, the health secretary.
Starmer has so far defied calls to quit from Labour MPs, who blame him for heavy losses in local elections last week and say he has failed to deliver reforms since coming to power in a landslide 2024 election victory.
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The meeting in Downing Street will take place before King Charles gives a speech at the opening of parliament – a grand ceremony led by him and used by the government to set out its political priorities and legislative agenda for the year ahead.
A public statement is not expected to follow the Streeting-Starmer meeting to keep the attention on the speech, according to British media reports.
Resignations
More than 80, or almost a quarter, of the prime minister’s elected MPs have called for Starmer to go, and four junior ministers have resigned in protest, including prominent MP Jess Phillips, who said she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”; Alex Davies-Jones, who called last week’s election results “catastrophic”; and Zubir Ahmed, who is a Streeting ally.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, who was the first of four ministers to resign on Tuesday, said in a letter to the prime minister, cited by British media: “The public does not believe that you can lead this change – and nor do I.”
Meanwhile, Starmer said in a statement on Tuesday evening: “Britain stands at a pivotal moment: To press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or turn back to the chaos and instability of the past.”
Despite the turmoil, Starmer will take part in parliament’s grand opening on Wednesday.
“The British people expect the government to get on with the job of changing our country for the better. Cutting the cost of living, bringing down hospital waiting lists and keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world,” Starmer said.
A package of more than 35 bills and draft bills will focus on measures to improve the economy, strengthen national security and “reform the state to support a more active government that is on the side of British people”, the government said.
After travelling to parliament and donning the Robe of State, Charles will read a speech written by Starmer’s government setting out the planned new laws.
But the implementation of that speech remains as uncertain as Starmer’s political future. If he were to be removed, his successor would not be bound to follow the same plan.
After spending much of Tuesday behind closed doors at his Downing Street office as he sought to rally support, Wednesday’s ceremony will put Starmer’s struggle for power back in public view.
Workers from two regional parties in India have been fighting on election day for West Bengal’s state assembly. Local media reported the fighting broke out as opposition party leaders accused the state ruling party of voter intimidation.
Mira Costa put it all together over the final three sets of its Bay League boys’ volleyball showdown with Redondo Union on Monday night, prevailing 26-28, 25-13, 25-18, 25-22 to avenge a five-set loss in the teams’ first meeting and stake its claim for the No. 1 seed in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
“Last time we didn’t think they were as good as they were, but we’ve watched a lot of film since then and saw where they like to go,” said outside hitter Mateo Fuerbringer, who finished with a match-high 27 kills and four of his team’s nine aces. “We didn’t pass that well in the first set, but after that we started spreading the ball around more and our serving was really good tonight. We got them out of system a lot.”
Colby Graham had nine kills and three blocks and ended each of the middle sets with a kill as the Mustangs (31-2, 7-1) totaled 15 stuff blocks. Wyatt Davis added eight kills and three blocks and Enzo Barker finished with five kills and two aces.
Redondo Union’s Vaughn Flaherty, left, and JR Boice try to block a hit from Mira Costa’s Colby Graham.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Mira Costa snapped Redondo Union’s 18-match winning streak and evened up the league standings, but the Mustangs gained the tiebreaker by virtue of fewer sets lost head-to-head.
Mira Costa saved three match points in the first set before Mavrick Essert ended it with one of his eight kills for the visiting Sea Hawks (26-3, 7-1). His older brother Cash Essert had 11 kills and JR Boice added 10 but Redondo Union was unable to maintain its momentum, never leading once in the last three sets.
Redondo Union keyed on Fuerbringer to win the first encounter 27-25, 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13 on its home court March 26, but Monday’s match was a different story as Mira Costa varied its attack to keep the Sea Hawks on their heels.
“We were gassed the first time because that was right after we played Loyola,” Mustangs setter Jake Newman said. “Loyola took a lot out of us even though we won. So we weren’t prepared for Redondo, but this time around we had two weeks to practice and study their tendencies.”
Mira Costa libero Dane Del Riego returns a serve in a four-set victory over Redondo Union on April 20, 2026.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Newman said closing the match in four sets was critical.
“At 24-22 we were telling each other we have to win, we’re not letting this go five,” he said. “We needed to beat them in four for the league championship.”
Mira Costa lost to Corona del Mar in tournament play early in the season but has since defeated the Sea Kings twice. It also has victories over Huntington Beach, Loyola and Newport Harbor — all of which will likely make the highest division.
Redondo Union won its own Varsity Invitational tournament Saturday, rallying to beat Loyola in the finals, and swept Newport Harbor at home March 21.
Coach Greg Snyder praised the Mustangs for executing the game plan to near perfection but warned it may not be the last time they have to face their archrival.
“That’s a really good team we just beat … we could very well see them again the playoffs,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.”
