Party had justified plan to hang flags in Nottinghamshire on basis that local businesses would foot £75,000 billA £75,000 scheme by a Reform-led council to hang union flags at sites across the county, which the party said would “not cost the taxpayer a single penny” as it would be sponsored by local businesses…

Andy Burnham needs the Treasury to serve devolution, raise living standards and renew the economy. The energy secretary meets that testThere are few things on which this column would agree with George Osborne. Voting to remain in the European Union was one. Backing Labour’s Ed Miliband to be the next…

Transcription, the winner of the Orwell prize for political fiction, and Toy Story 5 show life before smartphones and screen timeIn the opening pages of Ben Lerner’s novel Transcription, the unnamed narrator mentions his mobile phone more than 25 times. He is on a train to Providence in the US to visit a German…

Ferrari driver qualifies first ahead of Kimi AntonelliHamilton: ‘I love this place, I love this crowd’Lewis Hamilton gave the home crowd reason to roar as he took pole position for the sprint race at the British Grand Prix for Ferrari, beating the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli into second, with Red Bull’s Max…

“The dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately.” — Steve Harvey

“To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to change often.” — Winston Churchill

A leading light of American TV comedy, directing sitcoms such as Friends, Frasier and almost every episode of CheersJames Burrows, who has died aged 85, was one of the most influential figures in US television sitcoms for more than four decades. He was the co-creator and primary director of Cheers, one of America’s…

Thomas Tuchel’s side have problems aside from the altitude: defeat in a Mexican haze would be no embarrassmentIt’s a warm June afternoon in 2009. The teams look uneven. At 30, I am the second-oldest player in our lineup. Lloyd, Nathan and Ben are early 20s – they can all play. Micky the German isn’t in top…

“The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves.” — Brian Tracy

“The ability to hold two competing thoughts in one's mind and still be able to function is the mark of a superior mind.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald