British Museum’s plan for ‘red, white and blue’ ball sparks row
An internal row has broken out within the British Museum over its director’s suggestion of a “red, white and blue” themed ball for 2026, after staff condemned it as “in poor taste” following the rise in flag-hoisting across the UK,Nicholas Cullinan, the director of the 272-year-old museum, has proposed a colour theme based on the union jack and French tricolore to mark next year’s loan of the Bayeux tapestry from Normandy,The suggestion has led to concerns being raised by staff within the museum’s curatorial and administrative departments, the Guardian understands,Some of the staff are said to argue that the idea is “in poor taste due to the current far-right flag campaigns around the country,” a source said,Since the summer, union jacks and other flags of the four nations of the UK have been hoisted from windows, bridges and lamp-posts in what has been described by some as a celebration of Britishness.
But concerns have been raised about the motivation of some of those involved.One group behind the hoisting of flags, named Operation Raise the Colours, accepted a donation from Britain First, a far-right party with an openly anti-Islam, anti-immigration agenda.The British Museum hosted a successful inaugural fundraising ball in October with a “pink theme”, a nod to the colours and light in India, that was attended by 8,000 people, with tickets costing £2,000 a go.Those who attended in October included Naomi Campbell, Alexa Chung, Miuccia Prada, Manolo Blahnik, Sir Steve McQueen, Sir Grayson Perry and Dame Kristin Scott Thomas.Cullinan, who was born in Connecticut to British parents but brought up in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, has said he hoped that the annual celebration will become a “flagship national event”.
Described as a “brilliant fundraiser”, Cullinan has nevertheless already faced opposition from inside and outside the institution.The first ball was co-chaired by Isha Ambani, an Indian “businesswoman, philanthropist and arts patron”.She is the daughter of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who owns a petrochemicals conglomerate, Reliance Industries.The campaign group Culture Unstained has criticised the association of the Ambani family, “whose wealth comes in large part from the fossil fuel and petrochemical projects of Reliance Industries”.Prof Nick Groom, author of The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag, said the British Museum should be encouraged to go ahead with its plans despite the concerns raised.
He said: “If the British Museum is reconsidering plans for a red, white and blue themed ball next year to celebrate the international concord between the UK and France in exhibiting the Bayeux tapestry in London, then it is not just abdicating its responsibilities as a national institution to safeguard our history, but will effectively be complicit in the politicisation of the union jack – which would open the door to over 400 years of that history being rewritten by the far right.“And in any case, communities will still need symbols of unity – so what will the union jack be replaced by?“We are all accountable here, charged with maintaining and recognising the complexities and indeed contradictions of national symbols.“The only way is to resist simplistic politics that seek to impose one crude meaning on the flag and engage with its diverse history – a history that we can both celebrate and, where appropriate, censure.”Groom added: “George Orwell got it right when he castigated the ‘Bloomsbury highbrow’ for divorcing intelligence from patriotism and treating the expression of national identity as brutish: ‘If you were an intellectual you sniggered at the union jack and regarded physical courage as barbarous.’“That was in 1941, at the height of the Blitz bombing raids on British and Irish cities that killed over 43,500 civilians (about the population of Salisbury) when Britain faced the very real possibility of a Nazi invasion.
”A British Museum spokesperson said: “The inaugural ball was a landmark moment in the museum’s history that secured over £2.5m vital funding for its international partnerships.“We are excited to follow up this year’s success with a ball in autumn 2026 and will announce more details in due course.”
Blood test could predict who is most at risk from common inherited heart condition
Scientists are developing a simple blood test to predict who is most at risk from the world’s most common inherited heart condition.Millions of people worldwide have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease of the heart muscle where the wall of the heart becomes thickened. It is caused by a change in one or more genes and mostly passed on through families.Some feel fine most of the time and have few or no symptoms. But others can suffer complications, such as heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms, which can lead to a cardiac arrest
Key figures in creation of Milton Keynes criticise England’s new towns plan
Senior planners involved in building the country’s postwar new towns have raised concerns about the government’s new towns programme, criticising a lack of ambition and insufficient commitment to social housing.Lee Shostak, former director of planning at Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) in the 1970s and later chair of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), said the current plan for the new towns may not help people who need homes the most.He said that while Milton Keynes was designed specifically to ease the housing burden in London with a large stock of council housing, there was a real risk these new towns would do little to alleviate council house waiting lists in big cities.“There’s talk about 40% of the homes as affordable housing, most of which will not be social housing and there’s no indication whatsoever those homes will be available for people moving from London or other urban areas,” said Shostak.“So the very basic, simple premise that kickstarted the original new towns programme isn’t being followed through today
Midwife leading Nottingham maternity inquiry charging NHS up to £26,000 a month
The midwife leading the biggest inquiry into maternity failures in the history of the NHS is charging NHS England up to £26,000 a month for her advice through her company, the Guardian can reveal.Donna Ockenden, who has been chairing a review into maternity failings at Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust since 2022, is paid an £850 daily rate for every 7.5 hours she works.When asked about her monthly invoices of up to £26,000 for her advice, she said: “I am working long hours.”The monthly charges for “provision of independent advice” in connection with the review do not include the wider costs of the inquiry that are charged to NHS England (NHSE)
‘For the first time, she could tell people who she was’: Ireland’s gender recognition decade
Soon after Ireland passed its Gender Recognition Act in 2015, Kevin Humphreys, a Labour politician, visited a residential home for senior citizens – where an older woman thanked him for the new law.It was Humphreys who, as the minister of state for social protection 10 years ago, guided through the legislation that has meant transgender people in Ireland can apply to have their lived gender legally recognised by the state through a simple self-certification process.“She was around 80,” Humphreys recalls, “and for the first time she was able to tell her friends and family she was transgender. She told me the relief she felt to be accepted by her own community, and by the state, in the last few years of her life.”“We were very fortunate in Ireland that we were able to do the legislation in an era of openness and progressive discussion,” he says
Resident doctors say they will resume talks to avoid further strikes with ‘can-do spirit’
Resident doctors have said they will approach talks with Wes Streeting with a “can-do spirit” to avoid further strikes in the new year, as their five-day action ended on Monday morning.The British Medical Association called on the health secretary to come to the table with the same “constructive” attitude, saying the tone of 11th-hour talks before their stoppage had been encouraging but too late to avoid the strike in England.Streeting also signalled his determination to get back to the talks, saying he did “not want to see a single day of industrial action in the NHS in 2026”, and that he would “be doing everything I can to make this a reality”.“My door remains open, as it always has done, and I’m determined to resume discussions with the BMA in the new year to put an end to these damaging cycles of disruption,” he said.Streeting and Keir Starmer have taken a tough line towards the strike, with the prime minister saying it was “beyond belief” that it should go ahead when the flu-hit NHS was facing its worst crisis since Covid
Christmas burnout: why stressed parents find it ‘harder to be emotionally honest with children’
Advent calendars, check. Tree and decorations, check. Teachers’ presents, nativity costumes and a whole new ticketing system for the PTA’s Santa’s grotto, check. But the Christmas cards remain unwritten, the to-do list keeps growing, and that Labubu doll your child desperately wants appears to have vanished from the face of the earth.If you’re feeling frayed in the final days before Christmas, you’re not alone
No longer ‘unloved’: retailers investing more in physical stores, UK data shows
Shoppers shun UK high streets despite lure of Boxing Day sales
Apple seeks to appeal against £1.5bn ruling it overcharged UK customers
‘Undermines free speech’: Labour MP hits back at US government over visa ban on UK campaigners
England beat Australia by four wickets in chaotic Boxing Day Test – as it happened
England hold nerve to break Ashes drought in Australia with Boxing Day Test victory