In a moment of controversy no one could have predicted, more than 35,000 people have signed a petition to have Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby removed from This Morning.
The two otherwise beloved daytime TV presenters were seemingly spotted jumping the queue to see Queen Elizabeth II‘s coffin during her state funeral on Monday, 19 September and people have been left outraged.
It didn’t help their case that footage circulating on social media showed the ITV duo being escorted around the gates lining the 13-hour-long queue and straight into Westminster Hall.
The Change.org petition has now surpassed 37,000 signatures, with the description stating that ‘ITV should be ashamed of exploiting the situation’ and allowing the pair to ‘push pass thousands’ that had been waiting overnight.
Phil and Holly had been airing special episodes of This Morning throughout the official period of mourning and issued a special message of clarification denying the accusations, insisting they would ‘never jump a queue’ and that they were obviously given access specifically for press coverage.
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Those online are even unhappy with their so-called ‘apology’, arguing that they could have delivered a more sincere piece to camera.
With respect, I’m not impressed with this explanation of why Phil and Holly were there. You couldn’t do a piece to camera in there so what was the point? Stating it was the most profound moment of your life made it worse. You could have queued for that, surely? #ThisMorningpic.twitter.com/EbxmRYxytL
Speaking on Tuesday morning’s episode, Phil and Holly stated: “Like hundreds of accredited broadcasters and journalists, we were given official permission to access the hall.
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“It was strictly for the purpose of reporting on the event for millions of people in the UK who have not been able to visit Westminster in person.”
They went on to explain that hey had to be quickly escorted around the edges of the platform where the Queen’s casket was displayed rather than being given time to pause and reflect like others, adding that ‘none of the broadcasters and journalists there took anyone’s place in the queue’.
That being said, the two acknowledged that the footage didn’t look great, whether they had special journalistic dispensation or not.
More specifically, around 250,000 people queued up to see the Queen lying in state, with some reports suggesting people waited as long as 17 hours to say goodbye to the late monarch.
Laura Harrison, who created the petition, concluded that people’s ‘feelings on the monarchy’ shouldn’t matter and that the anger is more about ‘the TV show being toxic’ going so far as to suggest it ‘humiliated’ others ‘in the same way Jeremy Kyle’s show did.’
Featured Image – BBC
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Manchester set to host five UEFA EURO 2028 matches – including England’s opening game
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed to be the host of five matches at the upcoming UEFA EURO tournament in 2028.
This also, crucially, would include England‘s opening match, should they qualify directly.
The joint announcement by Manchester City and Manchester City Council today comes as UEFA has now released key details about the UK & Ireland 2028 competition – which, as it stands, is less than 1,000 days away.
It has been confirmed that the Etihad Stadium – which is known as The City of Manchester Stadium when not relating to Manchester City football club – will host four Group Stage matches across four different groups, offering both local and international football fans the chance to see a range of different national teams in action.
On top of this, Manchester will also be the host a Round of 16 knockout match as the tournament progresses.
UEFA EURO 2028 will kick off at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff on Friday 9 June 2028, culminating in the Final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 9 July 2028.
Across the UK and Ireland, nine stadiums will host matches during the upcoming tournament – with other northern stadiums including Everton Stadium in Liverpool, and St James’ Park over in Newcastle.
More than three million tickets – as sold by UEFA – are set to be available for the tournament, and more information on this will be issued in due course.
Following an independent assessment, UEFA EURO 2028 is expected to generate up to £3.6 billion in socio-economic benefits for the UK and Ireland between 2028 and 2031, with benefits including job creation, regional growth, and direct spending from international visitors.
The countdown has started in Manchester for #EURO2028!
Five matches are scheduled to be played here – including England's opener if they qualify – and more than 300,000 fans will be welcomed to the city in June 2028.
“We’re a city where football runs deep in our DNA, and we’re counting down the days to UEFA Euro 2028.”
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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NHS set to make thousands of staff redundant after being given go-ahead
Emily Sergeant
Thousands of NHS staff are set to be made redundant after the £1 billion needed to fund them was approved by the Government.
The Government had already announced earlier this year its intention to cut the headcount across both NHS England and the Department of Health by around 18,000 administrative staff and managers, including on local health boards.
But before this was to happen, the HM Treasury had to approve the funds first.
National news outlets such as the BBC and Sky News are reporting that the Treasury has not granted additional funding, which is something that Health Secretary Wes Streeting is understood to have been pushing for.
But the NHS will, however, be permitted to overspend its budget this year to pay for redundancies – with the aim that it will recoup the costs further down the line.
The NHS is set to make thousands of staff redundant after being the given go-ahead by the Government / Credit: Pxhere
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been in Manchester this week at the NHS Providers’ Conference, where he addressed attendees to announce the redundancies move saying: “Headcount across my department and NHS England will be halved, returning to the size we had in 2010 when the NHS delivered the shortest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction in history.”
He also told delegates at the conference that there was ‘no money to waste’, given the state of public finances.
According to the Department of Health, the redundancies and overall reforms to NHS England will cut ‘unnecessary bureaucracy’ and raise £1 billion a year to improve services for patients.
Today, we're announcing the next steps in modernising our NHS so we can invest more into patient care.
By cutting bureaucracy, our plans will mean an extra £1 billion a year for NHS services – enough to fund an extra 116,000 hip and knee operations. https://t.co/3LbJsuexW0pic.twitter.com/r3Aiix80yX
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) November 12, 2025
It said that every £1 billion saved in bureaucracy costs is enough to fund an extra 116,000 hip and knee operations.
NHS Providers’ Chief Executive Daniel Elkeles has called the move a ‘pragmatic step’ that means planned redundancies can now go ahead.
“It reflects the flexibility of a three-year settlement, allowing some funding to be brought forward in order to generate future savings to go into frontline care,” he added in a statement this week.
“However, we must recognise the position of staff affected by these changes, who face a very uncertain future.”
Danny Jones -
21st September 2022 
