Wyvern Theatre suggestion for Swindon cinema complex rejected
The Cineworld which was previously based in the Regent Circus complex shut in 2024.Mr Sumner said moving the Wyvern Theatre into the unit "would be a great opportunity"."It would give you vibrancy in terms of getting the restaurants and things back into business," he added. Of eight food outlets at Regent Circus, only Nando's remains.
But the council's leader Mr Robbins said the Labour administration preferred the option of building a space for the theatre at the site of the town's bus station."To have the entertainment venue right in the heart of the town centre, and create some new public space around it, feels like the much better option to us."It's land we own, it's land we have control of," he added.The largest of the units at Regent Circus – and most visibly empty from the rest of the town centre – is the former Morrisons supermarket, which closed in 2019.The supermarket chain remains contractually tied to the site.Regent Circus previously went up for sale in 2020 and was believed to have been bought by UK Commercial Property REIT. That company has since been bought out by Tritax Big Box.
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The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
Starmer to meet Trump to discuss Gaza and trade, as minister suggests UK could recognise Palestinian state
Update: Date: 2025-07-28T08:30:52.000Z Title: Starmer to meet Trump to discuss Gaza and trade, as minister suggests UK could recognise Palestinian state by next election Content: Good morning. Keir Starmer has a lead role in the Trump show today. He is flying to Scotland for a meeting with the US president, who is combining a golfing holiday with meetings with leaders like Starmer, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and John Swinney, Scotland's first minister. The von der Leyen talks culminated in the announcement of what Trump described as a 'powerful' trade deal (albeit one that only means the Trump tariffs won't damage US-EU trade as much as they otherwise might have done; it is not an improvement on the status quo ante.) Starmer is set to spend a lot of time with Trump today. He is arriving before lunch, and he is not flying back to London until this evening, after what No 10 describes as a 'private engagement' (dinner?) at Trump's golf course in Aberdeenshire. There is a bilateral meeting schedule, but Trump does not like long meetings and Downing Street has not said much about what else the two men will be doing. Starmer has reportedly been working how to respond if Trump invites him to play a round of golf. According to my colleague Eleni Courea, who is Scotland covering the trip, that is one humiliation that Trump won't be inflicting on the PM, who is a good footballer but a total novice at Trump's favourite sport. But Starmer will also be flying to Aberdeen with the president on Air Force One, we expect. In White House terms, that is a token of respect. Normally when political leaders meet, they speak to the press afterwards, to brief on what they have agreed. Today Trump and Starmer will hold their main event with reporters before their talks and so we are not expecting them to announce anything of substance at this point. Instead, we may just end up with Trump giving us one of his stream-of-consciousness peformance. While he has been in Scotland, these have include rants about European immigration ('you got to stop this horrible invasion that's happening to Europe – immigration is killing Europe') and wind turbines ('when they start to rust and rot in eight years you can't really turn them off, you can't burn them – the whole thing is a con job'. At one point it was expected that Trump and Starmer would use the meeting today to tie up loose ends in the US-UK trade deal, particularly relating to steel tariffs. But Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has been giving interviews this morning and he told the Today programme he 'wouldn't expect announcements from this visit' on trade. Instead, the situation in Gaza may be the focus of the Trump/Starmer talks and, as Pippa Crerar reports, Starmer will urge Trump to use his influence with Israel to get Benjamin Netanyahu to resume peace talks with Hamas. This is a difficult subject for Starmer because the PM is coming under increasing pressure from members of his own cabinet to recognise the state of Palestine. Doing this would anger Trump, who takes the Israeli view that this would amount to rewarding Hamas for the 7 October attack. And it would not have any immediate practical impact on the situation in Gaza. But Labour MPs are increasingly coming round to the view that, as Wes Streeting, the health secretary put it, it is best to recognise the state of Palestine 'while there is a state of Palestine left to recognise'. As Mark Malloch Brown, a former UN deputy secretary-general and a minister in Gordon Brown's government, told the Observer yesterday, recognition would also send a message to Israel that 'you can't bomb your way out of the reality that you're going to have to negotiate with the Palestinians.' In interviews this morning Reynolds said that the UK was committed to recognising the state of Palestine; it was just a matter of timing, he said. He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: It is a case of when, not if. It's about how we use this moment, because you can only do it once to have a meaningful breakthrough. And on Sky News he went further, implying he expects recognition to happen during this parliament. In this parliament, yes. I mean, if it delivers the breakthrough that we need. But don't forget, we can only do this once. If we do it in a way which is tokenistic, doesn't produce the end to this conflict, where do we go to next? Here is the agenda for the day. Morning: Rachel Reeves, chancellor, is on a visit in Bournemouth. 11am: Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, holds a press conference with 'a special guest'. According to the Daily Mail, he is Colin Sutton, a former detective chief inspector, who is joining the party as a crime adviser. 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing. Around noon: Keir Starmer is due to arrive at President Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire, Scotland, where the two leaders are due to speak to the media at around 12.30pm. They will hold a formal meeting in the afternoon before flying to Aberdeen, where Trump owns another golf course and where they are expected to have a private dinner. Around lunchtime: Kemi Badenoch is expected to record a media clip. Afternoon: The Stop Trump Coalition holds a protest outside Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course. Late afternoon: Angela Rayner, deputy PM, hosts a reception for the Lionesses following victory in the Women's Euro 2025. Also, David Lammy, foreign secretary, is in New York for a meeting on a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can't read all the messages BTL, but if you put 'Andrew' in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word. If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @ The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary. I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can't promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Swinney to press Trump on Scotch whisky tariffs exemption
Scotland's First Minister has vowed to press President Donald Trump to exempt Scotch whisky from US trade tariffs. John Swinney said the 'uniqueness' of whisky made in Scotland justified the exemption from the 10% tariff applied on UK exports into the US. The First Minister, who is due to hold talks with Mr Trump during his ongoing visit to Scotland, said the tariffs were currently costing the local whisky industry £4 million a week. 'Tariffs are very important for the Scottish economy and obviously scotch whisky is a unique product,' he told BBC Breakfast. 'It can only be produced in Scotland. It's not a product that can be produced in any other part of the world. So there's a uniqueness about that, which I think means there is a case for it to be taken out of the tariffs arrangement that is now in place. 'Obviously the trade deal with the United States provides a degree of stability for economic connections with the United States, but the application of tariffs is increasing the costs for the Scotch whisky industry. 'So one of my objectives will be to make the case to President Trump that Scotch whisky should be exempted from those tariffs. 'It's a product that is uniquely produced in Scotland, and it's a product that is much welcomed and supported within the United States. And I think there's a really good case for exempting Scotch whisky, and this is an opportunity that I have to put that case to President Trump on behalf of the Scotch whisky industry, which is a significant part of the Scottish economy. 'And the tariffs just now are costing the industry about £4 million each week, so it's a very significant burden on the industry. It would help growth and development within the Scottish economy if we could secure that deal. And, obviously, I'll be using every opportunity I have to try to put that across to President Trump.' Mr Trump's five-day visit to Scotland is largely a private one that has seen the president play golf at his course at Turnberry in Ayrshire ahead of opening a new course at his property in Aberdeenshire on Tuesday. Mr Swinney said the final cost of the policing the visit has yet to be worked out. 'Obviously, we're working very closely with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority about the arrangements for this visit,' he said. 'The security arrangements have gone well since President Trump arrived on Friday, and that's as it should be, because we've got an obligation to make sure that when we have major international visitors, when they come to Scotland, that they are protected and able to go about their activities. Pressed to reveal the bill, Mr Swinney added: 'All of that will be worked out and we'll address that with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority, and we're talking to the United Kingdom government about these questions, but it's important that we have a secure policing operation. 'It's also important that members of the public who wish to express their point of view, who want to protest about the visit or about other issues, are able to go about their exercise of their democratic right to protest. That's exactly what they've been able to do since Friday, and that's the way it should be.'
Auto Express
29 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Citroen's new SUV is £7k cheaper than a VW Tiguan
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