Remembering Sitcom Legend Penelope Keith

It's Saturday fourourth of July, I'm Jamie East, and this was a week that saw Andy Burnham lay out his plans. Donald Trump cashing on his presidency, Captain Kaine save England's World Cup, and tributes to a sitcom queen. Grab a cup of something hot your feet and get up to speed on the seven biggest stories of the week. This is the Stout Sven from the Smart Sven. It's news, but not the news Monday saw the man most likely to become the UK's next Prime Minister make his first substantial policy speech. Speaking at the People's History Museum in Manchester and dressed in his trademark t shirt and jacket, Andy Burnham laid out a clear vision for the UK if he becomes leader. He says that growth needs to become decentralized to every postcode and that part of that will include a shifting of power from Downing Street. I have had ten years of fighting the White haole machine blocking this place's progress And I am simply not prepared to accept the same for any area coming after Greater Manchester. The whole of White Hall will now be required to get behind our places and work together with them to make quicker, more joined up decisions. He didn't detail any plans for a cabinet, but he promised the biggest council housing building program since the post war period and a reform of business rates designed to create a renaaissance on Britain's high streets Titorory leadeader Kemmy Badenoock was being polite but firm, as she requested a formal presentation of the new PM's plan. Andy Burnham should delay the summer's Parliamentary recess, come to the House, and tell us his plan for this country. This is not a game. it should not be a soap opera. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kir Starmer has been busy tidying up his inbox before the arrival of Andy Burnerham. Tuesday saw the current PM finally publish the deffence investment plan, which already caused the resignation of both Defenceense Secretary John Heeeley and Minister Al Carnes The good news from a defense point of view is that the PM found an additional fifteen billion pounds over the next four years, but the bad news is that some of that funding has come from scrapping road and energy schemes. He was keen to explain that the current state of the world means Britain must spend more on defence. We see countries that are arming and tensions that are rising, a more dangerous and volatile world than at any time for We see the horrendous human toll of these conflicts, which cuts across our values of justice and sovereignty, and that simple British impulse, that bullies and dictators cannot be allowed to push people around. The new plan will see investment in Britain's nuclear deterrent, a move to create a new hybrid Royal Navy, investment in a new generation of stealth jets, and a commitment to create a drone transformation for the UK's armed forces Torory' shhadow D defeence Seret Jes Cartidge was unimpressed, however. It's quite simp a case of too little, too late, too late. not just because the plan is months overdue, but also because much of the capability it contains won't be in service until the twenty thirties. Wednesday saw Prime Minister Kir Stahmer facing off against Tory leader Kemmy Badanok for what might be one of his last PMQs O topic was still the Defence investment plan, which hasn't impressed the Tory leader, who described it as a mess, and she was busy pointing out that the funding still appears to be five billion pounds short of the total requirements. She was also keen to suggest that any shortfalls should be taken from welfare spending. The PM wasn't in the mood for criticism, however. No lectures from there They failed in the first duty of government And they won't defend their record. will they? Never do they stand here and defend their record because they can't. fourteen years of failure. They don't get up and apologise, which is what they should do because they would admit what we all know how much they fail. So they just sit there pretending it didn't happen. There are definitely some issues with the defence plan, which is scheduled to roll out until twenty thirty and take defence spending to two point seven percent of GDP Defense Minister Lu Pollard says, and new boss Andy Burnham only found out on Tuesday that the plan isn't as yet fully funded. They've been keeping him close to the process and sold yesterday when the Treasury published the statement and the breakdown of the financial costs. fifteen billion pounds extra money, which as a deffense minister, I welcome and I want to see that money spent wisely. There was some advice for Burnham on Thursday from former stara chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who was ousted over the Mandelsen scandal. He says that while Labour worked hard to win the election, they and he did not sufficiently plan for what to do when they took power. I did start to realise that we hadven't done enough prepare for government it was very hard to get people to focus on what we needed to do to win to begin with And then once we started getting into twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, it was about building the machine. Meanwhile, the defeense invvestment planl continued to cause controversy, with Rachel Reeves coming under pressure over revelations that the plan is not fully funded and will require at least five billion pounds extra before twenty thirty. As Chancellor, I have budgets of hundreds of billions every year. We're talking about around a billion a year that we will set out of the budget, but that's quite normal Last weekend saw the US and Iran trade strikes after an Iranian drone hit a Panama flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. The vessel was not following Iran's preferred route when it was hit, and the US and then Iran launched retaliatory strikes at each other, putting the ceasefire into doubt. Israel continued to strike at Hezbollah targets in Lebanon despite a new agreement there and it's not clear what currently. US Vice President JD Vance was trying to sound unconcerned about the state of the deal as he spoke to Bill Maher at the weekend. If we make the final deal, then great. If we don't make the final deal, their nuclear program is still destroyed. They're still much weaker as a country. So my attitude is America wins either way, but I do think that what the president has done is asked us to do something Nobody in forty seven years are dealing with the Iranians has done, which is offer them an opportunity to fundamentally transform how they behave with the West. The reappearance of Joe Biden this week won't have calmed Donald down either, as the former president blasted Trump over his behavior. Reflecting full reflects something even worse a narcissist and incompetent at the core of this administration. It's the corruption Itising blatant corruption Cruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any adinistation. Tuesday saw US Supreme Court wp up its term with a series of rulings in a politically charged atmosphere. Already this week, they had ruled in favor of mail in ballots, while also giving Donald Trump more power to fire independent regulators, and Tuesday saw two verdicts which went in the US president's favor The court upheld a ban on biological males from participating in female sports and also lifted a limit on political spending as they accepted an argument that it limited free speech At Trump's executive order overturning birthright citizenship, the centerpiece of his immigration policy was shot down with the court ruling that children born in the U. S. have citizens rights. That infuriated Trump and didn't particularly please House Speaker Mike Johnson either.ourm trend where people would just come and you just come onto the soil and have your child and then they're able to avail themselves of the welfare state and everything else. It's been abused. It's one of those things that was intended to serve a noble and important purpose and has been thwarted. Americans have been struggling with the price of gas and with food inflation as a consequence of Donald Trump's decision to go to war with Iran But, the president definitely hasn't been struggling as his latest financial filing revealed that Trump has made at least two billion dollars since returning to the White House, with the vast majority of that from his family's push into cryptocurrency. It raises huge questions about the ethics of the president and breaks all norms for residents of the White House, but Trump wasn't too worried when asked by reporters before he boarded his brand new jet, which was a gift from Qatar. Well, you know why I'm profiting because the stock market is going up. Everybody's profiting. you have a four hundred one K That up eighty five percent Thank you, President Trump So we're all profiting. I'm profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash. Meanwhile, peace talks between mediators have continued in Doha, although the US and Iran are not meeting directly, and the strait of Hormers has been open to traffic. Vice President Vance said it's open because of America's aggression. We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago, You know why? Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships So we dropped some bombs, we applied some leverage, and we've had free commercial transit for the last three days Last week saw Ukraine and Russia continue to exchange strikes as the war rumbles on. Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv last Sunday morning, killing at least two people, while Ukrainian drones struck targets across Russia, including the Krresnadar region where one person was killed near an oil refinery. Russian President Putin spoke on Sunday at the United Russia Party Congress as the country prepares for state Doomer elections in September, the first since the war with Ukraine started Putin's party holds a seventy percent majority, and despite growing unease over the war, the elections aren't expected to see a radical shift. The presresident was keen to emphasize that he will defend Russia against what he calls Ukraine's aggression. Still, we see their forces, Ukrainian forces losing their positions O the front line, that's why they resort to terrorism within Russia. They try to employ criminals to carry out terrorist attacks. Russia's war on Ukraine took a peculiar turn on Tuesday as a bomb attack on a Ukrainian property tycoon left the prrincipality of Monaco in shock The developer Vedemyir Malv was seriously injured, as was his wife and teenage daughter, and police have ruled out terrorism and have now identified a suspect as a potential assassin. It's not clear what the motivation might be, but Ukraine has continued its waves of long range strikes on Moscow and the Russian oil industry, which is having a significant effect. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov floated the idea of Russia importing fuel as the Ukrainian sanctions are impacting supplies. Former US envoy to Ukraine General Keith Kellogg says it's another example of how the war is turning, the summer and theall turnurn to Ukraine as an advantage because they don't have the winter pressures on them. And I think that you're seeing that is start to change. For the first time Since twenty twenty three, the Ukrainians are gaining ground. Wednesday marked the launch of Ireland's six month spell as presresident of the Council of the European Union. There will be hundreds of EU meetings across the period, and things kicked off with an official state visit from Ukrainian President Zelensky to mark the occasion. He was welcomed by Irish T shock Mihall Martin, who said that while Ireland is militarily neutral, it is not politically neutral when it comes to Ukraine, and he pledged to back Ukraine's EU membership bid Russian President Putin is coming under increasing pressure as his country struggles to cope with Ukrainian attacks and fuel shortages bring home the reality of war to the Russian people, but Zelensky was keen to keep the pressure on. The world's strongest leaders have already told Russia that this war must end. However, Putin wants to keep fighting. That is why he must face conditions that It's impossible for him to keep this war going. Russia launched another brutal wave of attacks on Ukraine early on Thursday morning. The main target this time was Kyiv, with more than thirty targets across the city hit in what Mayv Itali Klitchko described as the worst attack in four years of war. At least twenty seven people were killed with dozens more injured, and President Zelensky returned early from his trip to Ireland to assess the situation He has vowed that Ukraine will retaliate and reiterated his urgent call for more air defence systems as Russia continues to escalate its aggression. Ukrainians will win. This war to win is you know, it's such difficult Wish That's why we're asking O the part this. More pressure on Putin Stop this war. At the end of the days he will lose everything This week saw a new report published which found that the current education system is not serving the interests of white working class children. The independent report, which was commissioned last summer, says that serious reforms are needed to address the fact that generations have been robbed of opportunity, according to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. There are twenty four recommendations which include free access to public transport, improved childcare support, and making more apprenticeships available. Phillipson was attacked last week by Tory leader Kemmi Badanoock, who accused her of being a spiteful class warrior. But she says this report proves that there is a huge issue. If you work hard in life'll get on That I'm afraid is just not true. That is a lie that we tell ourselves, that it isn't the reality facing many families across this country. Education and the support that families get has the huge potential to change that, to make our country fairer. And I think it tells you a lot about the Tories that they're not interested actually. There was some good news on Monday, however, as the long running dispute with resident doctors finally came to an end New Health Secretary James Murray succeeded, where West Streeting struggled, negotiating a deal that will see a three and fivealf percent pay rise which will be backdated to April. The deal also includes more training places, out of pocket expenses for things like exam fees and a commitment to accelerate pay rates again in twenty twenty seven. The deal brings an end to three years of industrial action, and health Secretary Murray says he's looking forward to a better relationship in the future I want this to mark the beginning of a new chapter of engagement and cooperation with the resident doctor prorofession, the BMA, and other unions representing NHS staff' best interests. I'm looking forward to working with you all to build an NHS fit for the future. Maternity services in the UK have been in the spotlight as the statistics for maternal mortality have climbed by twenty percent over the last decade Tuesday saw the results of a rapid review into overall care published, and Baroness Amos' report says that women and babies are being failed on a scale that shames our society and highlights issues of racism and discrimination embedded through the system However, Baroness Amos is not recommending a full inquiry and instead has listed eight key recommendations. If the Secretary of State and the task force Take on board all the recommendations that we have made and start now The changes that we need in terms of cultures and systems within maternal and neonatal care will happen more quickly. Health Secretary James Murray moved quickly to begin the implementation, including announcing plans to create a new position of National Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner. The National Maternity and Neonatal Task Force, which I chair will create a comprehensive action plan byy the end of this year Today's recommendations from Baroness Amos include a proposal for a modern service framework in line with a ten year health plan to support system change and drive consistent quality care. Prime Minister Kir Starmer issued a formal apology on Thursday, he was speaking on behalf of the state and apologizing for its role in historical forced adoptions in England and Wales Throughout the nineteen fifties, sixties, and seventies, an estimated one hundred eighty five thousand babies were taken from their mothers because they were unmarried. The PM said what had happened was a stain on our history. The shame is not yours. The shame was never yours. The shame is ours We are deeply and profoundly sorry. The apology comes after years of campaigning from mothers, adoptees and wider family members, and there have also been a number of parliamentary inquiries There was no announcement of adress scheme, but funding has been put aside to support those attempting to trace their families. Karen Konstantine is a committee member of the movement for an adoption apology and she says it's an important day. This was a common practice. Everybody had a hand in it knew exactly what they were doing and it was designed to break us down, to make us less than human be accountable for our sins because there was a healthy trade in newborn babies. Still to come on the standout seven in association with Metro, England head to the lastast sixteen and tributes to a sitcom queen back. Wednesday was all about the World Cup as England faced the Democratic Republic of Congo in an epic battle for a spot in the last sixteen. The Congolese took an early lead just seven minutes in and then set about locking down the pitch much to England's frustration. Manager Thomas T Kell had warned that they would be difficult opponents, but Captain Harry Kanaine came to the rescue once again. He scored in the seventy fifth minute to put England level and again eleven minutes later to win the game England will now face co hosts Mexico on Sunday and the captain was being typically modest after the win. We knew there was going to be a tough rock to break down and they proved that they're keeping more than anyone. I mean he made some incredible saves throughout the game, especially in the first half and we just kept going. that's the team we are. you know we're persistent, we don't give up, we knew the moments would come and thanfully there's a couple of d to Wednesday night's victory saw Englands Wld Cup squad head to Mexico City to face the co hosts in the last sixteen The game takes place on Sunday night or more properly Monday morning with a kickoff time of one AM British time. England coach Thomas Tkeel has already urged parents to let their kids miss school on Monday, saying that the game is too important for them to miss. Write an excuse for school and let them watch football. Come on there's so much school to go to but every for years, let them watch big match in four days and we need the support of everyone and especially of the children. And It seems like outgoing PMK Starmer agrees as he popped up with some good news for football fans on Thursday evening. We're making sure that pubs can stay open on Mond morning early on Monday morning for the England game if you're planning to watch it in the have That is great and it's really good for pubs as well. So come on England This week has seen rescuers in Venezuela digging frantically in efforts to find survivors from last Thursday's earthquakes which devastated the capital Caracas. The closure of the international airport because of damage slowed the arrival of international rescue teams, but a UK team arrived on site in Carabaleda on Sunday with specially trained dogs who can sniff out survivors. UN resident Cordinator Jan Lua Rampola said time is short, but that it was still possible to find survivors. Sky News was on scene to witness the rescue of an eleven year old boy and speak to one of the team who saved him We all need this help And while doing right, working together We love because the life human being is the most important thing that we can have. UN officials are making plans for as many as ten thousand casualties from the aftermath of the Venezuelan earthquakes as the window for finding survivors closes More than two thousand five hundred people are confirmed to have died, with thousands more injured, but tens of thousands are still missing as the country struggles to recover. American troops have been working to repair the damaged port of Lag Guirea to speed up the delivery of aid, and America has now pledged more than three hundred million dollars to aid survivors Acting President Deli Rodriguez addressed the nation on Monday, and she says that huge progress has been made on restoring utilities like power and water We have already recovered seventy five percent of the electricity service. Teams will continue working until electricity is completely restored in Laguirea. It's the same with water, which is sixty eight percent recovered. Thursday marked seven days since twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela, causing chaos, death and destruction International rescue crews and aid agencies have been flooding into the country, but with many collapsed multi story buildings and a shortage of heavy lifting equipment, hopes are fading for more survivors. There has been mounting criticism of the government's failure to move swiftly, but Edward Vivis, who is a coordinator with the State Director of Civil Protection, says no one is giving up hope. We are working with teams verifying if we can rescue people alive In fact, early this morning, a two year old boy was rescued alive, and there is a satisfaction every rescuer feels when finding someone like that. We remain optimistic about finding more people alive Her death was announced on Monday of one of the nation's favourite actresses, Dame Penelope Keith at age eighty six. She passed away peacefully at home in Surrey after a long battle with cancer. It's hard to explain just how popular Penelope Keith was at her peak, she had two massive sitcoms keeping up appearances and two The Manner Born, which dominated ratings in the late seventies and early eighties and still get repeated to this day She also spent time in theatre and won both BAFTA and Olivier Awards over the course of a long career, while she was also awarded an OBE, a CBE and made a dame in twenty fourteen. She remained remarkably modest as was clear during this interview with the BBC. Rest in peace, Penelope was fairly plain looking, really , which was just a burden I carried with me from a very early age. And they'd say, of course, well, you know, yes, you'll be right, but you won't come into your own toil' for You've been listening to the smallmart s. We'll be back tomorrow at seven AM. Hit that follow button and have a great day A a seven minutes, we'll give you the world