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Ant and Dec’s mocking of the government’s alleged ‘Christmas party’ on I’m A Celeb goes viral

Downing Street has been accused of hosting several parties during the national lockdowns at the end of 2020.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 8th December 2021

Ant and Dec took a little bit of time out to mock the UK government’s ‘Christmas party’ during last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

And the video’s now been viewed millions of times on social media.

During a typical appearance for the award-winning presenters – who have been the hosts of the popular ITV reality competition show since it first began all the way back in 2002 – where they explain what the celebrity campmates have been up to and set the scene for the next part of the show, the pair addressed Prime Minister Boris Johnson directly in reference to the alleged Christmas Party.

When explaining that former BBC Breakfast host Louise Minchin has bee chosen as the new camp leader to take over from former footballer David Ginola, Ant launched his tongue-in-cheek attack: “David Ginola’s reign is over.

“But they weren’t celebrating. They didn’t have a party. They categorically deny any suggestions that they had a party.

“And this fictional party definitely didn’t involve cheese and wine, or a secret Santa.”

Then, after Ant had finished alluding to the alleged party, Dec chips in to directly speak to Boris Johnson saying: “Evening Prime Minister.”

Before then cheekily adding: “For now.”

Since the scene aired live on ITV last night, and the video was shared to Twitter, it’s racked up millions of views on social media, with plenty of viewers praising the pair and adding their own viewpoints.

One person commented: “Moments like these are why Ant and Dec clean up every year at the awards. The best and it isn’t even close.”, while another added: “Who’d have thought that it was Ant and Dec that would finally bring Johnson down.”

“The actual anger is even palpable in the most lovely men on earth.” another concluded.

Read more: Sacha Lord demands to know if locked-down taxpayers paid for government’s alleged Christmas party

Ant and Dec’s mocking comes amid ongoing conversation nationwide after Downing Street has been accused of hosting several parties during the national lockdowns at the end of 2020, after a damning report in the Mirror.

The Prime Minister himself, as well as up to 50 colleagues, allegedly broke lockdown rules by hosting a leaving party in November, and a Christmas party in December.

Downing Street has been accused of hosting several parties during the national lockdowns at the end of 2020 / Credit: UK Parliament

It also comes directly after after a video recording – which was obtained by ITV News – of what is reported to be a rehearsal for a TV media briefing emerged, in which senior Number 10 aides were filmed talking and laughing about a Christmas party.

They also jokingly referred to a “business meeting” and a “cheese and wine” event.

The footage is said to be from 22 December last year, which is four days after the alleged Christmas party took place in Number 10.

In a statement to ITV News, the Metropolitan Police said they are aware of the footage, adding that: “It is our policy not to routinely investigate retrospective breaches of the Covid 19 regulations, however the footage will form part of our considerations.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also responded to the claims, saying that the “guidelines were followed at all times.”

Featured Image – ITV

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The man saving Manchester’s city pigeons from ‘stringfoot’

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson The man saving Manchester's city pigeons from 'stringfoot'

A man has been patrolling the streets of Manchester to save our city’s pigeons from a condition known as ‘stringfoot’.

We all walk past hundreds of the birds every day in the city centre and they often get a bad rap – but one now-viral TikTok account is hoping to change all that.

In a series of heartwarming videos, one man has been heading out in his free time to treat pigeons afflicted with the dreaded ‘stringfoot’.

It’s a common sight now to see pigeons missing toes or walking around Manchester on deformed feet, which is often caused when the poor birds become tangled up in foreign matter.

Sometimes this is bits of string, plastic, thread, hair or a number of other things usually dropped by humans.

But with quick intervention from Tom, he can save these pigeons from a life of limping around town.

He’s been heading out armed with bags of seed to lure groups of pigeons close to him, before carefully catching the afflicted animal and carefully cutting away the material around its foot.

He uses things like stitch pickers to remove the thread, before cleaning up the pigeon’s foot with saline spray and antiseptic and gently releasing them again.

Tom said he started helping pigeons ‘sort of by accident’ when a bird with stringfoot came up to his flat.

In one month alone, he was able to catch and treat 15 pigeons, saving them from infection and injury.

And the account is getting lots of love and driving awareness for stringfoot and changing people’s perception of pigeons.

One person wrote on one of Tom’s videos: “We did pigeons so wrong as a society. Thanks for helping!”

Another said: “Pigeons Are NOT TRASH, they are a birds, who need help like cats, dogs and every living animals.”

And someone else commented: “These sort of videos make me cry because we’re so mean to pigeons, this might be the first time someone’s done something kind to them.”

You can find out more on how to help pigeons in your area HERE.

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Featured image: TikTok, @heyitstommm

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Benjamin Šeško quote resurfaces as Manchester United switch sole focus to pursuit of Slovenia star

Danny Jones Danny Jones Benjamin Sesko better than Haaland trainer quote

Slovenia striker Benjamin Šeško is now considered the primary transfer target for Manchester United for this summer window, as per multiple reports, and with the links only growing stronger as a quote relating to him and former RB Salzburg forward Erling Haaland has cropped back up.

Now on the books at the franchise club’s German counterpart in Leipzig, Šeško is one of the most highly sought-after talents in Europe at present, showing not only huge potential and a unique profile but already some impressive returns when it comes to goal contributions.

Although Haaland is ahead in terms of numbers, they do bear some resemblance in terms of height, physicality and speed for their size, and while they barely came across each other in the Red Bull setup – Šeško being loaned out to fellow Austrian side Liefering – they have drawn plenty of comparisons.

In fact, according to the 22-year-old himself, some feel he might just be “better” than the Norwegian phenomenon. At least that’s what some teammates and former colleagues are claimed to have said.

The pair may never have got to play together, but according to an old trainer who worked with both of them, each showed plenty of early promise.

Speaking to Sportsmail, ex-Salzburg coach Rene Aufhauser said, “Benjamin is maybe the better football player, better to play with the team, technically maybe better at the same age”.

The retired defensive midfielder elaborated that Šeško was arguably the more natural all-round athlete, detailing that he has always been “smooth with the ball, very good technique, good finishing, and he jumps so high; very, very good with the head – it’s unbelievable.”

Aufhauser went on to add, however: “Erling was mentally a monster and better at the same age. This is the last five, 10 per cent that Benji has to get.”

Šeško has said previously that he watched lots of clips of Haaland’s movements, specifically, when he first joined the RB football group.

It was also noted that while the emerging prospect may have just edged out the now fully-fledged Manchester City superstar in some departments at an early age, the big number nine always managed to find the back of the net more often.

He’s certainly kept that up in the years since then…

A 2022 quote from Šeško is all well and good, but Haaland has proved plenty of paper in just a few short years at the Etihad.

It’s also worth noting that the two attackers are not just pretty equally quick in a straight line, but both as tall as each other, clocking in at exactly 6ft 4in, with the Man City man barely three years his senior.

On the other hand, Šeško is known for keeping up multiple sports besides just football (basketball, in particular),

Besides their position, he told Amazon Prime Video Sport that he believes there is a lot of value not just in being sized up against the likes of Haaland but in trying to take cues from other pros in training, having also named a previous Red Devil himself as a key role model: one Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Most of this talk probably sounds all well and good to most United fans, but another key stumbling block in terms of a move for the budding young goalscorer is RB Leipzig’s supposed asking price, as the Bundesliga outfit is said to value him in the region of £70m.

Nevertheless, The Athletic now writes that INEOS and head coach Ruben Amorim are now solely focused on trying to sign Šeško, having previously narrowed it down to him and Premier League-proven Ollie Watkins.

Even if they get it done, the question is, will the confident forward suit English football as much as Watkins or dare we say Haaland – and furthermore, if they do, what might this mean for Manchester United’s current centre forwards?

Ruben Amorim and Rasmus Højlund both make stances clear on forward’s future at Man United
More MUFC arrivals are still said to be largely dependent on player sales.

Read more:

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Featured Images — Werner100359/Roland Osbeck (via Wikimedia Commons)

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