The name Joe Lycett has been on everyone’s lips this weekend after the comedian went viral during an appearance on the BBC’s new politics show, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
Dead panning the role of a “right-wing” Tory supporter, Lycett left viewers in stitches as he joked that he thought Liz Truss gave “great clear answers” when asked for his “honest” opinion on the then Tory leadership hopeful.
Spoofing Kuenssberg on her very first show, the comedian described Truss as “the backwash of the available MP’s” after twelve years of Tory rule.
His comments have since been shared millions of times online, alongside screenshots of him wearing a brightly colored yellow overshirt.
Dressed in a grapefruit yellow fit from sustainable Manchester brand Usksees, he didn’t pull any punches as he told viewers: “I know there’s been criticism in the The Mail on Sunday today about leftie liberal wokie comedians on the BBC. I’m actually very right-wing and I loved it.
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Sharing screenshots of the interview and some of the furore Lycett’s comments caused online, local Manchester workwear brand Usksees quipped: “Our boy Joe Lycett is having a quiet day in the media today, wearing an equally quiet shirt”
Directing their followers to get the Lycett look, they added it’s “perfect for work, play and holding power to account.”
Lycett told Kuenssberg, who has just taken over the Sunday politics slot after 16 years of Andrew Marr: “I thought [Truss] was very clear, she gave great clear answers. I know exactly what she’s up to and I think she’s […] Most people watching at home are worried about their bills, they’re going to feel […] I’m not being sarcastic.
“She was very clear what she said, I think, you know exactly what’s going to happen. You’re reassured, I’m reassured. Are you reassured?”
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Image: Uskees
Image: Uskees
“I think you know that the haters will say that we’ve had 12 years of the Tories and that we’re sort of at the dregs of what they’ve got available and that Liz Truss is sort of like the backwash of the available MP’s.
“I wouldn’t say that because I’m incredibly right-wing, but some people might say that.”
“As Liz said there, she said it’d be wrong to predict the future even though loads of people have predicted that we’re going to have real issues with paying our energy bills but you know I think she’s right to just look basically say ‘well let’s not predict it and see what happens next week’, I think she did the right thing there.”
Lycett told his Twitter followers ahead of the show: “Really excited to be on this new version of Would I Lie To You.” Then, shortly after the episode ended, he quipped: “If you want to hear more of my right-wing opinions, I’m on tour.”
Happy to present @bbclaurak with a gift for her first show, something I knew she’d love – an original painting of Robert Peston in jail. pic.twitter.com/XKhfiLALT0
If you want to get the Lycett look yourself, you can check out the local unisex clothing store’s shop here.
Feature image – Usksees
News
95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’, new study reveals
Emily Sergeant
An eye-opening new study has found that only 5% of Mancs still use cash as their preferred method of payment nowadays.
It comes as no surprise that cash is less of a ‘king’ nowadays than it used to be, but now a new report by global financial technology company SumUp has suggests that only 5% of people in Manchester prefer to pay with cash, while 59% choose debit and credit cards, so that leaves one question… is Manchester on its way to becoming a cashless city?
To discover how payment preferences are evolving, SumUp conducted a nationwide survey to gather insights from UK consumers about their payment habits.
The company was particularly intrigued to not only discover payment methods people prefer, but what their concerns around certain payment methods, alongside how they feel about businesses that don’t accept digital payments.
95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’ / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash) | Pexels
Firstly, before we go any further, it’s important to note that almost two thirds (63%) of Manchester residents said they have changed the way they make payments over the past year.
Unsurprisingly, debit and credit cards remain the top choice for the majority of Mancs, with over half (59%) saying it was their preferred method of payment, followed by mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay at 24% – which is likely thanks to their ease of use and the ability to have multiple cards on one device.
While a third (31%) of Mancs said that they ‘don’t mind’ cash and still opt to carry it for situations where digital payments aren’t an option, a growing number of people in the city are feel that digital payments are more favourable, with 25% thinking that businesses should adapt to modern payment methods and whilst 28% finding it ‘inconvenient’ when a business doesn’t accept digital payments.
A further 11% of people even say that cash-only businesses wouldn’t be an option they’d consider, and would actually avoid them wherever possible.
Only 5% use cash as their preferred method of payment / Credit: Rawpixel
When it comes to concerns around digital payment methods, where do Mancs stand then? Well, the survey found that a third (33%) of people are worried about their reliance on technology, especially being unable to pay if their phone dies, for example, while an additional 32% of people are concerned about security risks such as hacking, fraud, or stolen card details.
Among other things, 26% of survey respondents also said they worry about the privacy aspect of digital banking and the tracking your data.
“While debit and credit cards continue to dominate as the preferred payment method, it’s clear that cash is slowly declining in use, particularly among younger generations,” Corin Camenisch, who is the Marketing & Growth Lead at SumUp, commented on the report.
“Looking ahead, we can anticipate a rise in innovative payment methods like digital wallets, especially as younger consumers increasingly embrace the convenience and flexibility they offer.”
Featured Image – Pavel Danilyuk (via Pexels)
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Met Office predicts UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer
Emily Sergeant
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for a ‘hotter than average’ summer this year.
Fresh off-the-back of the news that 2025 is already the hottest spring on record, with a recorded 630 hours of sunshine from 1 March until 27 May, beating out the previous sunniest spring in 2020 by just four hours, the Met Office is now predicting that the UK is on the verge of a summer that’s ‘hotter than usual’.
According to its three-month outlook, the Met Office has predicted that it’s 2.3 times more-likely than ‘normal’ that it will be hot in the UK between 1 June and 31 August.
The average temperatures during those months are set to range from 10-17°C.
🌡️ ☀️ The UK has recorded its warmest and sunniest spring on record, according to provisional Met Office statistics.
Spring 2025 is now the 4th sunniest season overall for the UK, with only 3 summers sunnier since 1910.
Details in release below, or read this short thread 👇🧵
After it was revealed that this has also been the UK’s driest spring in more than a century, meteorologists are warning Brits that there could heatwave conditions could be reached at various times throughout the summer.
The release of the long-range forecast – which gives an indication of possible temperatures, rainfall, and wind speed over a period as a whole – comes after temperatures soared to 8°C (46F) above the average for this time of year this Saturday just gone (31 May).
It is important to note, however, that the Met Office thinks these predicted temperatures are similar to those in recent years, and it does not guarantee ‘prolonged’ hot weather.
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer this year / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)
The Met Office said in a statement: “While the current three-month outlook shows an increased chance of a hot summer, the temperature signals for this summer are similar to those for recent years and consistent with our warming climate.
“The increased chance of hotter than average temperatures is not a guarantee of prolonged hot weather or heatwaves, but it does mean that heatwave conditions could be reached at times.
“However, it’s important to bear in mind that an increased chance of hot conditions could also reflect a mix of hot and cool days, warm nights, or less extreme levels of warmth rather than continual heatwave conditions specifically.”
Georgina Pellant -
5th September 2022 
