Leading scientists are calling for the government to cancel cuts to the UK’s science budget that could force the closure of Cheshire’s Jodrell Bank Observatory, home to the world’s third-largest telescope. 

The Lovell Telescope was the brainchild of physicist Bernard Lovell, who worked on the government’s secret radar programme during the Second World War, and became operational in the 1950s. It has since enabled scientific breakthroughs beyond its creator’s “wildest dreams”, said A.S. Ganesh in The Hindu. “From quasars to black holes, and pulsars to gravitational lenses”, the Jodrell Bank Observatory has “played a crucial part in our better understanding of the universe”.

Why is the observatory under threat?
The UK Research and Innovation funding agency announced in July that Jodrell Bank would not be prioritised for further investment after its existing agreement ends in March 2028. The non-departmental public body said investment would go towards projects that deliver “the greatest long-term impact”. 

Under the current arrangement, Jodrell Bank receives around £2.8 million per year. Without further funding, it will have to close, risking the loss of 28 jobs at the site and affecting nearly 3,000 scientists who use its observations in their research.

Scotland’s astronomer royal, Professor Catherine Heymans, has described the funding decision as an “act of national self-harm”. Other scientists including Brian Cox – the professor of particle physics at Manchester University, which hosts Jodrell Bank Observatory – have warned Chancellor John Healey that the threat to the UK’s largest telescope is “just the tip of the iceberg”, said The i Paper. In an open letter ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, they argued that planned funding cuts of up to 30% for the wider particle physics, astronomy and nuclear sector will “cause lasting and possibly irreparable damage to the UK’s scientific capabilities”.

Can it be saved?
The government has said it is “exploring” long-term options for Jodrell Bank. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the Commons earlier this month that he had recently met staff at Manchester University to explore potential solutions. Andy Burnham has also pledged to find a way to save the telescope. 

“It is one of the great dividing lines between schools,” said Lottie Hayton in The Sunday Times: “is your October half-term holiday one week or two?” Private school pupils typically get a fortnight off; state schools are increasingly offering the same, or considering doing so. But the policy is “not without critics”. About 15% of state school teachers in England say their school now offers a two-week October break, up from 7% in 2023. 

‘Greater flexibility’
The “rationale” is that it gives pupils and staff “more time to rest and recharge”, said Lauren Crosby Medlicott in The i Paper. The longer break can also offer families “greater flexibility and the chance for a cheaper holiday”, after the main tourist season has ended. And for neurodivergent households, it can offer the chance to “recover from the demands of school”.

A longer break is “critical to keeping concentration and energy levels up” among staff and pupils alike, said David Hatchett, CEO of the Anthem Schools Trust, which has introduced the two-week half term across its 15 schools. “When you have had such a long holiday over the summer and then you return to a long and intensive first half term, it is quite a big adjustment for a teacher and school leader,” he told the Press Association. One week is “arguably too late and short for a proper rest and reset”.

‘Stretched’ parents
As a parent of a school-age child, “no thank you”, said Natasha Hinde on HuffPost. Of course it’s important for children to rest, but what about the needs of working parents? Many are “already stretched to breaking point”. After six weeks of summer holidays, “we’re pretty much out of annual leave” yet then have two more weeks of childcare to sort, “which ends up easily costing hundreds of pounds – potentially triple that if your child is disabled”.

Although some schools shorten the summer holidays to accommodate the longer half term, many parents are left juggling care for children at different schools or nurseries on different timetables. What “everyone wants is consistency”, primary school teacher Lee Parkinson told The i Paper. “If an area is going to do it, everyone should.”

Lion cubs pile onto a bench in their enclosure at Dortmund Zoo. A total of 12 were born to lionesses Zuri and Saba and male lion Boeti at the park in western Germany this summer.

Ina Fassbender / AFP / Getty Images

Following the variability of last year’s snowfall, many holidaymakers may head to larger resorts that they hope offer the best guarantee for a full week of skiing. But “smaller, lesser-known resorts can often have bigger snowfalls, more vertical, fewer skiers and better off-piste”, said The Telegraph. Cheaper lift passes, shorter queues and fewer interruptions on the slopes also sweeten the deal, without compromising on skiing quality. Here are some of the best smaller options.

Heiligenblut, Austria
This tiny village beneath Austria’s highest mountain is “blissfully quiet”, said The Sunday Times. Heiligenblut is home to “mind-blowing” views of the 3,798-metre Grossglockner and a “non-existent (in a good way)” après-ski culture, allowing for proper relaxation. Anyone with an interest in ski touring or off-piste skiing will be “thrilled by its back-country potential”.

Tetnuldi, Georgia
The Georgian resort of Tetnuldi has “deserted slopes, deep powder and truly wild alpine panoramas”, said The Telegraph. And with “consistently good snow and almost 1,000 metres of vertical” to explore, the long journey there is definitely “worthwhile”. The 15-odd miles of marked pistes are also a “good warm-up for the world-class back-country skiing that’s the area’s big attraction”.

Brundage Mountain Resort, US
This Idaho resort has an “uncrowded and unpretentious” vibe, said The Independent. Just above the small mountain town of McCall, the resort offers a “classy experience”, welcoming both “strong skiers craving room to roam, and families who enjoy the low-stress atmosphere”. And the après-ski is “friendly and relaxed” after a day on the area’s “famously light, dry snow”.

This is just the beginning – we need to go further to earn people’s hope
Andy Burnham in The Mirror
“A hundred days ago I stood in Downing Street and promised to do things differently,” writes Andy Burnham. I promised to tackle problems Westminster was “ignoring”, and make Britain start “believing in itself again”. Many said it “would be impossible”, but “we’re proving them wrong”, fixing “everyday things that make life harder” and handing power to communities “on a scale not seen in decades”. The job’s not done – “not even close” – but “I won’t stop until people can look to the future with hope”.

The Queen of shops who accidentally helped wreck the great British high street
James Ball in The i Paper
For years, TV’s “Queen of Shops” Mary Portas has “fought a magnificent battle” to save the “old school” British high street, writes The New World’s James Ball. Admirable, but she’s helping “policymakers deny the reality that the very way we think of high streets has to change”. Shopping online is “simpler, cheaper, and offers” more choice, so we need to reinvent our town and city centres as spaces for “parks and recreation” and much-needed housing.

We need a crackdown on the cycling menace
Ross Clark in The Spectator
In my town, “there is a long history of paths shared by cyclists and pedestrians”, writes Ross Clark, and that was fine when everyone rode push bikes. But it’s “becoming increasingly unpleasant to walk anywhere” because “riders on powerful and bulky e-bikes have decided that these paths belong to them”. Cyclists “moan bitterly about how they are treated by motorists”, with “good reason”, yet then “treat pedestrians” the same, “trying to bully them out of the way”.