Latest news with #Sherlock
Daily Mirror
10 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
DWP latest on powers that will allow bank accounts to be 'monitored'
The DWP is set to be given new powers as part of its Fraud, Error and Recovery Bill which forms a central part of its plans to crackdown on benefit fraud Labour's new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill represents a key element of DWP strategies to tackle benefit fraud and will grant fresh powers to the department to seek information from claimants' bank accounts. The Fraud, Error and Recovery Bill has been confirmed to take effect from 2026, with the provisions being rolled out to safeguard a total of £1.5billion of taxpayers' money over the subsequent five years. The legislation is designed to target benefit fraudsters. The fresh powers have been brought in as part of a series of measures Labour claims will constitute the "biggest fraud crackdown in a generation." Further details have now been provided on the proposals for the DWP to monitor people's bank accounts closely, READ MORE: BT warning for anyone who still has UK landline in their home Under the changes, benefit cheats could face driving bans for periods of up to two years if they reject all chances to repay the money they owe. Currently under discussion in the House of Lords, additional details on how these powers will operate have been disclosed by Baroness Maeve Sherlock, a minister of state for the DWP. The primary power that will allow the DWP to request banks to share financial information with its agents is termed the Eligibility Verification Measure, reports the Liverpool Echo. The DWP will be able to collect information from additional third-party organisations such as airlines to verify if people are claiming benefits from abroad and potentially breaching eligibility rules. The financial department will not have direct access to the bank accounts of millions of people on means-tested benefits including Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Employment and Support Allowance. The Department for Work and Pensions will identify individuals who may have exceeded the eligibility criteria for means-tested benefits, such as the £16,000 income threshold for Universal Credit. If a person is identified, the department will then investigate that claimant to prevent possible overpayments and potential cases of fraud. The legislation only permits banks and other financial institutions to share limited data and excludes the sharing of transaction data. This means DWP will not be able to see what people are spending money on. A DWP factsheet states: "Any information shared through the Eligibility Verification Measure will not be shared on the presumption or suspicion that anyone is guilty of any offence. Banks and other financial institutions could receive a penalty for oversharing information, such as transaction information." Baroness Sherlock explains that the information the institution can be asked to share includes details about the account holder, including their name and date of birth. Agents can also request the bank account's sort code and account number, as well as details about how the account meets eligibility. Ministers claim the government is bringing in these powers to establish whether someone qualifies for a benefit they are receiving or have requested based on their financial circumstances. Baroness Sherlock said the measures will be rolled out over 12 months, using a "phased approach" and working with a limited number of banks at first. Drawing on its use by HMRC and the Child Maintenance Service, Baroness Sherlock says DWP anticipates it will issue between 5,000 and 20,000 Direct Deduction Orders annually. A DWP spokesperson told The Independent: "Our Fraud, Error and Recovery Bill includes an Eligibility Verification Measure which will require banks to share limited data on claimants who may wrongly be receiving benefits – such as those on Universal Credit with savings over £16,000. "As well as tackling fraud, the new powers will also help us find genuine claim errors sooner, stopping people building up unmanageable debt. This measure does not give DWP access to any benefit claimants' bank accounts."
Daily Mirror
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Vikings star looks completely unrecognisable in upcoming BBC mystery crime series
A popular Vikings star is worlds away from the Middle Ages in this upcoming BBC crime drama Vikings: Valhalla star Leo Suter looks completely unrecognisable in his latest role after portraying Harald Sigurdsson in three seasons of the hit Netflix spin-off. A sequel series to the original Vikings on the History Channel and Prime Video, the epic historical drama concluded the tale of legendary explorer Leif Erikson (played by Sam Corlett) last year. Suter portrayed Harald, a young warrior who eventually becomes known as the King of Norway in the 11th Century while developing complex relationships with Leif and his sister Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson). Since finishing the series, Suter has bagged a leading role in a highly anticipated BBC crime drama based on bestselling novels by Elizabeth George. Launching later this year on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, the four-part drama follows upper-class detective Tommy Lynley (Suter), who's paired with streetwise Barbara Havers (Sofia Barclay) to solve crimes around the UK. A reimagining of the original hit series which aired between 2001-2008, Lynley has assembled a stellar supporting cast for its first season which also includes Daniel Mays, Niamh Walsh, Michael Workeye and Joshua Sher. A synopsis reads: 'Tommy Lynley is a brilliant police detective but an outsider in the force – simply by virtue of his aristocratic upbringing. 'He is paired with Barbara Havers, a sergeant with a maverick attitude and a working-class background. 'With seemingly nothing in common and against all odds, the mismatched duo of Lynley and Havers become a formidable team, bonded by their desire to see justice done. His brain and her spirit – his knowledge and her instincts. 'It is only through working side by side do they both find where they truly belong.' The first-look stills from the upcoming drama, which will consist of four 90-minute episodes, feature Suter looking far away from the rugged world of Vikings. Swapping his beard and armour for a clean-cut look, the rising star looks like a completely different person altogether in the recently released promo images. Meanwhile, Barclay, best known for roles in Ted Lasso and Prime Target, opts for a more casual look as Lynley's partner, Havers, who's not afraid to get her hands dirty. Steve Thompson of Sherlock fame is the creator, writer and executive producer, with directing duties filled by The Last Kingdom's Ed Bazalgette and All Creatures Great and Small's Stewart Svaasand. Author Elizabeth George is also on board as an executive producer, giving book fans confidence this new revamp will do her original novels justice. Lynley premieres this autumn on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The National
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Sherlock Holmes adaptation gives feminist twist to classic stories
Botanic Gardens, Glasgow BARD In The Botanics (BiB) – the annual summer theatre programme held in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens – has, for some years, broadened its remit to encompass not only the plays of Shakespeare, but also works by other classical authors. In recent years – to take three examples – we have been treated to adaptations of works by such theatrical luminaries as Euripides, Henrik Ibsen and Christopher Marlowe. I am, I admit readily, open to accusations of intellectual snobbery in suggesting that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – creator of the famous, and enduringly popular fictional detective Sherlock Holmes – is not a natural bedfellow of the dramatists named above. Nevertheless, it is to the Edinburgh-born doctor and writer that BiB's associate director Jennifer Dick turns for the company's latest play in the Botanics' splendid Kibble Palace glasshouse. READ MORE: Scottish tourist attraction wins prestigious award after 11,000 five-star reviews The lovely venue shares its Victorian provenance with Doyle (and, indeed, with Holmes). As such, it proves to be a good fit for this play about Baker Street's most famous fictional resident. Dick – who is both the adapter and the director of this drama – ensures that many of the established pillars of the Holmes myth are resolutely in place. Of course, Holmes (played with the necessary alertness and condescension by Adam Donaldson) has Dr John Watson (played with affection and resignation by Stephen Arden) as his long-suffering sidekick. James Boal (who has a busy evening, playing no fewer than four characters) takes on the role of the befuddled police inspector Lestrade. There are even references to the off-stage escapades of the Baker Street Irregulars. Dick does innovate, however, when it comes to the character of Irene Adler, aka 'The Woman'. As with Lara Pulver's performance (opposite Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes) in the BBC series Sherlock, Rebecca Robin's clever and glamorous Adler has a seductive power over Holmes. However, here, she is not only a criminal mastermind but a determined champion of the rights of women who is bent on revenge. The truth and justice of the play's contemplation of misogyny are unarguable, as is the pleasure of seeing powerful male chauvinists getting their just desserts. However, Dick has a tendency to write for Adler speeches that are occasionally more polemical than they need to be. This is a pity, as Robin blesses the character with a darkly compelling and sympathetic performance. Boal is required to play central casting archetypes in the rough, but decent, sailor Captain Crocker, the arrogant King of Bohemia and the pernicious blackmailer Milverton. Each character is managed with colourful aplomb in both of his dimensions. Holmes isn't Holmes without his weakness for narcotics, and Donaldson plays the scene depicting the detective's dependency on cocaine with a believable exhilaration and anguish; even if the decision to illustrate the episode by way of the well-worn song The Windmills Of Your Mind is a tad obvious. This is, then, a nicely put together adaptation of Doyle's tales, which has been given a satisfying feminist twist. What it sometimes lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in theatrical brio. Until August 2:
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Familiar look to Cork football as county championship throws in
Throw-in time for the Cork football championship. The conversation remains unchanged from the 2024 edition. Forgive the repetition, but repetition is unavoidable. Castlehaven again begin as champions. Nemo and the Barrs again are prioritised by unseating the men from the west. Everyone else, bar one or two at the bottom of the ladder, are again prioritised with breaking the latter-end stranglehold of the big three. In essence, as you were, this time 12 months ago. But of course, it isn't as you were given the game is largely unrecognisable from last summer. The new rules could lend to an interruption of the big three. They could also serve to push the Haven, the Barrs, and Nemo further clear from a chasing pack that hasn't managed to get in amongst them since Clonakilty contested and came up short of the Barrs by the minimum in the 2021 county final. Clon again appeared best placed to push through and break through. They brought the Barrs to extra-time in the recent Division 1 League final, coming up short on this occasion by two. The fixture was the latest piece of evidence of how the 2025 Cork football championship could be sung to Steven Sherlock's tune. On the opening weekend of the League, Sherlock, who opted out of the Cork set-up this year, kicked 0-15, including four two-pointers. On the final weekend of the League, and in steering St Finbarr's to early-season silverware, he kicked 0-18, including three orange flags. Mark Collins of three-in-a-row chasing Castlehaven said the champions still have to calibrate their orange flag radar. According to the former Cork footballer, their two-point conversion rate was as low as 20% during the League. The return of Cork captain Brian Hurley should help improve that particular figure, the 33-year-old having registered five of them across the Munster and All-Ireland championship. 'Our percentage was shocking, and it's something we're looking at. I think it's a lot about right option-taking. When the rules came in first, there was kind of a freshness to it and everyone was maybe looking to have a go or have a pot. Trying to nail that as the year goes on, is something we'll look at,' said Collins. The top-tier championship throws-in with a familiar pairing. Nemo versus Ballincollig (Ballygarvan, 7.30pm). They met on the opening weekend last year, Nemo winning 0-11 to 0-6. They were even more comfortable winners on the opening weekend the year previous, Nemo taking that fixture 2-11 to 0-6. Throw in the one-sided 2022 semi-final and this is the fourth consecutive year they are crossing paths. Ballincollig have yet to walk in front of the men from Trabeg during that time. Where Ballincollig finished mid-table in Division 2, Nemo were a point off making the Division 1 League decider. And so the expectation is that Nemo will again be a step or two ahead.
Metro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
I love Sherlock but a reboot would be the worst idea ever
Nothing has made me feel older than the harrowing realisation that BBC's Sherlock came out 15 years ago today – yes, you read that right. The year was 2010, Matt Smith had completely won me over as the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who, my Saturday nights were spent hooked to the new episode of Merlin and, on July 25, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman took over our screens in a modern take on Arthur Conan Doyle's famed detective novels. In short (for nerds everywhere), it was the perfect storm – and it's one that can never be repeated in a reboot. It's because I'm such a fan that I can't stand the idea of it ever coming back, despite repeated calls for it to be picked up again. There's no denying that co-creators Steven Moffat (also the Doctor Who showrunner) and Mark Gatiss knew exactly what they were doing at the time with the show's popularity reaching fever pitch. Benedict and Martin's chemistry as literary duo Holmes and Watson practically burst off the screen (the flirty dynamic between the pair cultivating an even bigger fanbase). Sherlock was not a 'psychopath but a high-functioning sociopath'. This, and 'I am Sherlocked' were plastered onto mugs and T-shirts at every Comic-Con as far as the eye could see, and the phrase 'mind palace' entered everyone's vocabulary. The show was an instant hit and I, like millions of others, became completely hooked – only heightened by the introduction of Andrew Scott as Moriarty, which is arguably the best bit of casting to ever grace British TV (shortly followed by Andrew Scott as Hot Priest). You simply had to be in fandom spaces in the two year gap between the season two finale, The Reichenbach Fall, where Sherlock jumped off a hospital building and supposedly died in front of John, and the season three opener in which – ta-da – he wasn't dead. Ten million people tuned in overnight for the long-awaited return, which spent a large portion basically mocking all the unhinged theories fans had posed before concluding the best explanation was no explanation. (Yes, it haunts me to this day). It was after this where, for some, the show started to go downhill with complaint after complaint from disappointed fans who believed the mysteries were becoming over-involved, the reveals outlandish and the writing thin on the ground The Rotten Tomatoes score plummeted from the 90% mark to the 60% mark by season four, with the finale causing such outrage fans thought there was a second secret surprise ending on the way. Despite the clear nosedive the show took at the time, nostalgia (and rose-tinted glasses) is a powerful drug and, since moving on, the cast and creators have been regularly plagued with the one million dollar question – would they ever do a reboot? There's mixed enthusiasm from their end, especially with a booked and busy Benedict and Martin, who no doubt aren't interested in rewinding the clock on their career by a decade. Just last month Gatiss was asked for the millionth time whether a reboot could ever happen to which he replied a definitive no because 'Benedict and Martin didn't want to do [it] anymore.' And I can't help but echo their sentiments for more than one reason. Firstly, the show's aesthetic fit a very specific cultural era that played wonderfully to their audience. But even by the end of the original run this charm was wearing off. I don't think bringing it back now would be any different. Then there's the fact that, frankly, I'm tired of reboots and remakes of all kinds. It feels like playing into the current creative brain drain that has resulted in the HBO Harry Potter remake, Freakier Friday and yet another I Know What You Did Last Summer. Of course, there is a place for that nostalgia-driven content but we are at a point of oversaturation that has instantly turned me off the idea of any kind of trip down memory lane. Finally, we come to Sherlock itself – a treasured piece of media that has been done various times over the years, from Robert Downey Jr's movie to Henry Cavill and Millie Bobby Brown as the Holmes siblings in Netflix's Enola Holmes. More Trending I'm not sure we need to revisit another one – especially with the third Enola Holmes movie on the way. There needs to be room for more than one iconic detective on TV and I just don't think there's the appetite for BBC's Sherlock in the way there was 15 years ago. The fact of the matter is that nothing will ever be able to replicate the unexpected appeal of the first run, so it feels almost inevitable that any reboot would be terrible. It's better to bow out while you're ahead. View More » My suggestion – take this milestone as a sign to whack on A Study in Pink and reminisce about the good ol'days. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: If you aren't wearing your England shirt for the Lionesses, ask yourself why MORE: All change in Formula One as Red Bull begin life after Christian Horner and Lewis Hamilton tells Ferrari 'it's crunch time' MORE: Line of Duty star's drama that will 'seize your soul' launches on BBC
