Up to 10,000 new places for vulnerable children will be created by 2029 as part of an £88 million plan to overhaul England’s fostering system.
Increasing the number of foster carers is an “urgent priority”, said Josh MacAlister, minister for children and families. But experts say recruiting more carers won’t ease the retention crisis that is driving the shortfall.

What did the commentators say?
“The foster care system in this country is collapsing,” said Mary Wakefield in The Spectator. Every year, the pool of people prepared to care for vulnerable children shrinks. Around 60% of foster carers say they are considering or have already decided to withdraw from the system, owing to “what they describe as burnout and unbearable stress”.

Several of the government’s proposals target the “support systems” that surround carers, said The Guardian. The plans include stronger collaboration between councils; grants for experienced carers to extend their homes to take on additional children; and specialist placements for young people on remand, “as an alternative to custody”.

But “how are we meant to afford to do this?” said Nick Martin on Sky News. Foster carer fees “vary wildly”, yet often amount to “well below the minimum wage for what is effectively a 24/7 job” – and a very stressful one. Private agencies are another “elephant in the room”. They typically pay carers far more than local authorities, “at far greater cost to the public purse”.

What next?
There are “significant gaps” in the plan, said The Guardian. “It is unclear who will lead and sustain” the proposed reforms, and there is “little sign of firm action” on the “excessive profits” earned by private providers.

The future of the care system rests on whether the government is “willing to confront the uncomfortable truth”, said Martin: that fostering “relies on goodwill, personal sacrifice, and carers quietly subsidising the state”. Unless that changes, “no amount of branding, roadshows or recruitment slogans is likely to stop the slow, steady exodus from a system many say is already at breaking point”.

“Sporting matching signet rings” engraved with “poetics about their twinned souls”, Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are the latest on-screen lovers hinting at off-screen romance, said The Times. Yet “this is not a case of life imitating art” – Robbie has been married to producer Tom Ackerley since 2016. What we’re seeing is a “showmance”: “a relationship cultivated by two stars to catapult a film into the zeitgeist”.

‘Planet Vomit’
Even before “Wuthering Heights” hit UK cinemas, the “Byronic showmance” between its stars was “moving at warp speed to Planet Vomit”, said The Telegraph. During the promotional campaign, Elordi and Robbie have been “wrapped around each other like poison ivy, waxing lyrical about their ‘mutual obsession’”.

They have “tried really, really hard to make everyone think they are besotted lovers”, rather than “professional colleagues with a product to sell”, said The Guardian. Is this how stupid the film industry thinks we become? Even platonic friendship isn’t safe – while promoting “Wicked”, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were “clinging to each other” and “sobbing like they’d just watched their childhood houses burn down”. Long gone are the days when “an actor’s performance began with the opening credits and ended when the lights went up”.

‘Fabricated pairings’
Hollywood has been playing this game since its Golden Age, when big studios such as MGM and Universal often made their stars participate in “fabricated romantic pairings” to promote movies, said The Times – or sometimes to “deflect rumours” about their sexuality. Today’s showmances are less formal, Hollywood marketing agent Stacy Jones told the paper. It’s all “about amplifying chemistry that already feels believable”.

But toying with audiences like this can backfire. Many people “seemed genuinely moved” when Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson appeared to have fallen for one another while making “The Naked Gun”, said Slate – only for the whole affair to be revealed as a “sloppily executed” showmance as soon as the promotional tour was over. “If you’re going to fake a relationship, celebs, could you just be prepared to stick it out at least until the movie goes to streaming?”

A woman draped in the Iranian flag confronts an official during a ceremony at a Tehran mosque commemorating the thousands killed in last month’s anti-government protests. Memorials are being held nationwide to mark the 40th day of mourning, a milestone in Shia Islam.

Atta Kenare / AFP / Getty Images

With its pretty pastel houses, shimmering blue water and rugged hills, few places are quite as beautiful as the Amalfi Coast. Spring is a wonderful time of year to visit, before the crowds descend during peak holiday season. 

What to do
Ravello, “the region’s dreamiest hill town”, is a great place to start an Amalfi Coast mini-break, said Louise Roddon in The Times. Wander through the medieval streets, then stop by at “the elaborate villas of Rufolo and Cimbrone, each set within highly romantic gardens”. A trip to the “mesmerising ruins” of Pompeii is also a must, said Helena Smith in Lonely Planet.

If you don’t fancy navigating the “squiggly hairpin bends” of the region’s famed coastal road yourself, hop on the Sita bus to relax while you soak up the views of “lemon groves, pine-fringed bays, Saracen towers and pretty villages”, said Elise Taylor in Vogue.

Where to stay
If you’re seeking “unparalleled” views, the Caruso Belmond Hotel is a safe bet, said Taylor in Vogue. Located on a cliff overlooking the coast in Ravello, the “dazzling historic gem” is set within an 11th-century former palace. Sipping a Caruso spritz on one of the hotel’s sun loungers while looking out at the sea is “about as close to paradiso as it gets”. 

There are some excellent “mid-range B&Bs” too, said Smith in Lonely Planet. Stand-out options include “Casa Giovanni da Procida, prettily perched La Fenice in Positano and hillside Ercole di Amalfi, just outside Amalfi town”. 

The AI panic ignores something important – the evidence
Parmy Olson on Bloomberg
Investors are “getting whiplash” from “market turmoil” around AI, an industry “trading on vibes and anecdotes”, writes Parmy Olson. One minute it’s “overhyped”; the next, we’re verging on machines outsmarting humans. Yet “through all these narrative swings, the underlying data hasn’t changed”. We should acknowledge that no one has “any idea what is around the corner” and that AI’s “impact will be uneven” and “impossible to predict”. That’s “unlikely to go viral” but it’s the truth.

I’ve just turned 50. In my lifetime nearly everything in Britain has got better
James Kirkup in The Telegraph
Britain “desperately needs” some optimism, writes James Kirkup. Apparently, voters can’t “think of a single reason to be cheerful”, and no political party seems to believe “things can and will get better”. But statistics show Britain’s “long-term arc” bending “towards improvement”: life here “is enormously better than it was” when I was born 50 years ago. We should “challenge the ‘Broken Britain’ narrative” and “tell a story of a country that is fundamentally good and strong”.

Don’t bet against Angela Rayner
John Oxley on UnHerd
The “Westminster gossip mill” about Keir Starmer’s successor “continues to turn”, writes political strategist John Oxley. Tax investigations aside, Angela Rayner is “well placed for a crack at the leadership” and “could be a Lefty Thatcher: striking, principled, and loved – by her side, at least – for her pugnacity”. Her “polarising nature would normally be a weakness” but in this “age of divisive politicians”, she might offer Labour “what it currently lacks: a sense of identity”.