Exclusive: Chloë Deakin tells how she wrote to Dulwich college master to argue against Farage’s nomination as prefect

It was 1981 and Nigel Farage was turning 17. He was already a figure of some controversy, as would become a lifelong habit, among the younger pupils and staff at Dulwich college in south-east London.

“I remember it was either in a particular English lesson or a particular form period that his name came up,” said Chloë Deakin, then a young English teacher, of a discussion with a class of 11- and 12-year-olds. “There was something about bullying, and he was being referred to, quite specifically, as a bully. And I thought: ‘Who is this boy?’”

Dozens of staff bring the annual light show to life – but a changing climate means displays now need to be designed differently

Where might one find three giant jellyfish, a Dalek, and a flying bear? In a fever dream perhaps, but also here, in the Blackpool Illuminations storehouse.

Inside this nondescript building, close to Blackpool airport, is where the magic is made.

It might seem like all gains for her and all losses for you, but it’s really the start of an exciting new chapter in your relationship

I am a single mum to an 18-year-old daughter. It has always been just us two, and we have a very open, supportive, healthy relationship.

She is going away to university in the new year and has recently developed a new friendship group I know less well than her old friends. They all seem friendly, look out for each other, and don’t let anyone go home on their own, etc. At first, I found her being out late with her friends particularly worrying. It took me a few days to get used to this new part of life, but we talked and I got across to her that it’s purely me worrying about her safety – I think she felt I was annoyed with her. I just worry, though I really appreciate that she keeps me informed of where she is, and I know many 18-year-olds wouldn’t be so open.

Do hot baths improve endurance? Will creatine bolster your brain power? Does pickle juice prevent cramp? Here’s what we learned about living well this year

The best advice for living a healthy, well-adjusted life – eat your vegetables, get a good night’s sleep, politely decline when the Jägerbombs appear – never really changes. Other nuggets, such as how much protein you should be eating or how to maximise workouts, seem to change every year. But as we wonder whether we should really give sauerkraut another go, science marches on, making tiny strides towards improving our understanding of what’s helpful. Here’s what you might have missed in the research this year, from the best reason to eat beetroot, to how to ruin your five-a-side performance before the game even starts. There’s still time to break out the pickle juice shots before 2026 …

A sell-out crowd for the final helped deliver a once-in-a-lifetime experience as England’s captain Zoe Aldcroft raised the trophy after defeating Canada

Recalling the moment that England’s captain, Zoe Aldcroft, lifted the Rugby World Cup still brings goosebumps. Twickenham was bathed in September sunshine, there was not one empty green seat and when the Gloucester-Hartpury star raised the silverware with gold streamers and fire pyrotechnics, the roar from the crowd was a sound unmatched at any other women’s rugby game I have attended.

England had rewarded the home fans as they executed the perfect gameplan against Canada, the in-form team who were the underdogs despite knocking out the six-time champions New Zealand in the semi-final. The stadium was sold out with a women’s rugby record of 81,885 creating an electric atmosphere. Future World Cup finals will be sell-outs with a party-feel celebration but I am unsure if anything will be able to replicate the feeling on 2025 final day for everyone invested in women’s rugby. There was a sense of overwhelming emotion of what the sport has grown into over the past few years. Now, the women’s game can not only sell-out the biggest venues but also provide box office action and deliver an unforgettable experience.

Blackmail! Murder! Horny Republicans! This starry bonkbuster is about as good as nonsense television gets

This is it. This is your reward. For getting through Christmas, for getting through the crisis-laden sorrowfest that was 2025, the gods of television have vouchsafed us all The Hunting Wives, eight episodes of the most perfect trash to fill our screens since – well, I don’t even know when. Since Rivals? Maybe, but like the book it was based on by the late, great Jilly Cooper, that show was too good to qualify for this coveted title. The Hunting Wives is not. The Hunting Wives is perfect trash. The most perfect trash possibly ever – how’s that?

I’m not sure I can explain quite how much fun it is with only the paltry resource of the written word at my disposal but let me limn first its hysterical outlines and we’ll see how we get on.

Company owners say bonus was unrelated to water business and complied with ban after pollution conviction

The former chief executive of Wessex Water received a £170,000 bonus from its parent company last year despite a ban on performance-related pay after criminal pollution failures on his watch.

Colin Skellett received a total of £693,000 in pay from the water company’s Malaysian-owned parent company, YTL Utilities (UK), including the bonus, according to its accounts up to June 2025.

Ukrainian president will meet US president at his Mar-a-Lago home later today for their first in person meeting since October

Ukraine’s National Police has accused Russian forces of launching attacks (guided aircraft and drones) on settlements in Kharkiv, Bogodukhov, Chuguiv and Kupiansk districts over the past day. The police said three civilians in the Kharkiv region were injured and said they are documenting the “consequences of war crimes” by Russia.

The police said:

On December 27, the Russian army struck the city of Chuguiv. The strike hit a residential high-rise building. A 66-year-old woman with an acute stress reaction sought medical help.

The Russians used drones to strike the territory of the Zolochiv community. The strikes occurred in the village of Baranivka. Private houses, outbuildings, and power grids were damaged.

Charities and MP Bob Blackman urge government to implement law to tackle scandal of ‘exempt’ accommodation

People are dying in unsafe accommodation and communities are being irreversibly damaged due to delays to a new law to clamp down on unregulated supported housing in England.

It has been more than two years since the Supported Housing Act, a private member’s bill brought by the Conservative MP Bob Blackman, that applies to England and Wales, was given royal assent but it has yet to be implemented due to delays in creating the regulations.

Low-quality AI-generated content is now saturating social media – and generating about $117m a year, data shows

More than 20% of the videos that YouTube’s algorithm shows to new users are “AI slop” – low-quality AI-generated content designed to farm views, research has found.

The video-editing company Kapwing surveyed 15,000 of the world’s most popular YouTube channels – the top 100 in every country – and found that 278 of them contain only AI slop.