Spare double nominated for book of the year prizes

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The Duke of Sussex has been double-nominated at the British Book Awards for his controversial memoir Spare, as those up for gongs were celebrated for “starting conversations and pushing boundaries”.

The 39-year-old royal’s headline-grabbing book – in which he accused his brother, the Prince of Wales, of pushing him into a dog bowl in a row over the Duchess of Sussex – has been shortlisted for two book of the year prizes.

Harry used the tell-all book to make various claims about his family including that William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, that the King was jealous of the Prince and Princess of Wales and Charles refused to allow the Duchess of Sussex to join the Duke in Scotland as the late Queen was dying.

The ghost-written autobiography has been given nods in the categories of narration audiobook non-fiction, which the Duke of Sussex provided, and non-fiction: narrative.

When the Nibbies were first launched in 1990, the King won author of the year.

The Duke of Sussex faces competition in non-fiction: narrative from Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Steven Bartlett for The Diary Of A CEO: The 33 Laws Of Business And Life, singer Britney Spears’ The Woman In Me and former Conservative MP Rory Stewart’s Politics On The Edge along with other nominees.

Spears’ memoir was also hotly anticipated and detailed her controversial 13-year conservatorship along with her past romantic relationships including with American singer and actor Justin Timberlake.

However, she left the audiobook for Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams, known for Blue Valentine and My Week With Marilyn, to voice as the process of recalling her life had been so “heart-wrenching and emotional”.

Harry is up against Bartlett for the audiobook non-fiction prize along with those also doing voice work including comedian and actor David Mitchell for Unruly: A History of England’s Kings And Queens, Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart’s memoir Making It So and Steve Coogan character Alan Partridge’s fictional autobiography Big Beacon.

Also given a nod in this category is a narration of 1992 novel Poor Things by Alasdair Gray, which was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film of the same name, about a woman who has the brain of infant transplanted into her body, starring Emma Stone.

Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and chairman of The British Book Awards judges, said: “Last year saw the book business roll up its sleeves, stare down the cost-of-living crisis and post-Covid troubles, and unleash a series of memorable and remarkable new titles.

“Book-ended by two record-breakers – Prince Harry’s Spare and the fifth book in Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series – this year’s titles did what the industry does best: start conversations, connect communities and push boundaries.

“Our collective ability to support the creative endeavours of writers and illustrators, and to judge and deliver what readers want, continues to be a wonder to behold. It is an honour to celebrate these success stories.”

The Duke of Sussex’s book was the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began in 1998, according to Nielsen BookData, despite extracts being leaked online.

It also claimed the Prince of Wales teased Harry about his panic attacks, that the King put his own interests above his second son and saw the Duke of Sussex reference taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms and his enjoyment of the American sitcom Friends.

Also receiving British Book Awards nods was Heartstopper: Volume 5 by Alice Oseman for children’s illustrated, Little People, Big Dreams: King Charles by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara for children’s non-fiction, Pointless star Richard Osman’s The Last Devil To Die for crime and thriller and ex-Smiths musician Johnny Marr’s Marr’s Guitars for non-fiction: lifestyle and illustrated.

Tackle! by romance writer Dame Jilly Cooper is also up for fiction along with Kate Mosse for love story The Ghost Ship and Irish author Claire Keegan’s new novel So Late In The Day.

The judges include Mr Bates Vs The Post actor, Toby Jones, BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake, ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly and crime author Janice Hallett.

The awards ceremony will be at Grosvenor House in London on May 13.

Published: 08/03/2024 by Radio NewsHub

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Governments pledge to ban trail hunting in spotlight as Boxing Day hunts meet

The Government is under pressure over its manifesto pledge to ban trail hunting as hunts gather for the traditional Boxing Day meet. Anti-hunting campaigners are urging them to deliver on the promise to ban trail hunting – a practice in which a scent is laid across the countryside for hounds and riders to follow as an alternative to banned fox hunting, but which has been criticised as a “smokescreen” for illegal activity. But the Countryside Alliance has warned further changes to the law are “completely unjustified”, as people were carrying out a legitimate, legal activity that brought the rural community together. Tim Bonner, the alliance’s chief executive, also said the issue of trail hunting was irrelevant to most people and it would be “extraordinary” for Labour to focus on it given the poor state of relations with rural communities. Labour, which introduced the original ban on hunting with dogs in 2004, pledged in its manifesto this year to ban trail hunting, as part of what it says are measures to “improve animal welfare”. A spokesperson for the Environment Department (Defra) confirmed the Government planned to ban trail hunting, telling the PA news agency: “This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious animal welfare plans in a generation and that is exactly what we will do. “We are committed to a ban on trail hunting, which is being exploited as a smokescreen to cruelly kill foxes and hares.” The League Against Cruel Sports said figures compiled by its intelligence team found that since the beginning of August, 186 foxes were reported being pursued by hunts and there were 220 reports relating to suspected illegal hunting incidents. There were also 553 reports of “hunt havoc”, in which hounds caused disruption such as chasing other wild animals or pets, worrying livestock or causing traffic incidents, or disturbing the public, the organisation said. Emma Judd, head of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “It’s 20 years since the Hunting Act was passed but, since then, figures we compile consistently suggest hunts still chase and kill foxes as they did before the ban. “Hunts may claim they are following a pre-laid animal scent trail, known as trail hunting, but this has been shown to be nothing but a smokescreen to conceal old-fashioned illegal hunting.” She said trail hunting and loopholes in the Hunting Act made it “all but impossible” to enforce the law, and called for the Government to strengthen the legislation and introduce custodial sentences for those hunting wild animals with dogs, and to set out a timetable for doing so. Dan Norris, Labour MP for North East Somerset and Hanham and chairman of the League Against Cruel Sports, urged ministers to “listen to the majority view, including in rural areas, to close the legal loopholes that allow needless cruelty to animals, and implement a proper ban on hunting once and for all”. But Mr Bonner accused parts of the Labour Party of the politics of “perceived class and prejudice” and said: “It’s very sad that we may be going back to a point where we have to waste even more parliamentary time on this irrelevant issue. “If they are claiming that somehow this law needs to be changed to address illegal behaviour, then it needs to be very carefully thought through, and any proposals are brought forward do just need to address that. “Because what there can’t be any any case for is stopping people going into the countryside with a pack of hounds or dogs, and carrying out a completely benign activity, which is what hunts are doing.” He said there were 12,000 hunting days carried out each year which were legal and legitimate. While he said moves to require hunts to lay non animal-based scents and bring in a “recklessness” element to the offence would be survivable for most hunts, he warned Labour against “opening Pandora’s box” by revisiting the legislation, as he said it could become a toxic political battle. In the wake of widespread anger with Labour in rural communities over issues such as changes to inheritance tax for farm businesses and an acceleration of the phaseout of farming subsidies in favour of environmental payments, Mr Bonner also said it would be extraordinary to push a ban. “Given where the government is in its relationship with the countryside already, frankly it would seem extraordinary that they’d want to double down on an issue which really doesn’t matter.” While there are hundreds of jobs supported by hunting, it is a relatively niche activity, he said, but added it plays a key role in parts of rural Britain where farming is tough and mental health and loneliness are big issues. “It’s one of those elements that brings the rural community together and to remove that through an act of spite, if that was to happen, would be something which I think people would react extremely badly to,” he said. Joe Emmett, master and huntsman of the South Devon Hunt, said: “The hunt plays an important role in our local community and meets like Boxing Day are the perfect opportunity for locals and visitors to the area to come together.” The League Against Cruel Sports said polling earlier this year showed more than three quarters (76%) of the British public supported strengthening the Hunting Act, but the Countryside Alliance pointed to a survey over the weekend of more than 2,000 people in which just 5% put it in their top three issues for voting in the next election. Published: 26/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub

Train reliability hits the buffers as annual cancellations exceed 360000

More than 360,000 train services across Britain were fully or part-cancelled in the past year as reliability is at a joint record low amid major staffing shortages. PA news agency analysis of the latest Office of Rail and Road data found 208,000 services were fully axed in the year to November 9. A further 161,000 were part-cancelled, meaning they did not serve at least one of their scheduled stops. The rail industry produces a cancellations score – counting full cancellations as one and part-cancellations as half – which shows the equivalent of 4.0% of the 7.3 million trains planned in that period were cancelled. That is the joint worst reliability performance in figures dating back to March 2015, when the annual cancellations score was just 1.9%. Services are being particularly badly disrupted on Sundays as many operators rely on train drivers or guards volunteering to work paid overtime on that day. Great Western Railway, Northern and ScotRail are among the operators affected. Rail journalist Tony Miles, of Modern Railways magazine, said: “Much of (the poor performance) is to do with a failure of successive governments to really resolve the staffing issues on rail, and that includes getting a proper seven-day railway in the terms and conditions (of train crew) – and recruiting enough staff – so they don’t have to rely on overtime and rest-day working. “This is putting people off trains and back onto the roads, which is completely contrary to what Government ambition should be.” Mr Miles claimed some train drivers have opted out of extra shifts since the Labour Government offered a multi-year pay deal to their union Aslef without changes to terms and conditions. He predicted cancellation figures are “probably going to get worse” because drivers are retiring faster than they are being recruited, describing the situation as a “ticking time bomb”. Mr Miles said Network Rail “struggling” to maintain its infrastructure because of inadequate funding is also partly to blame for the high number of cancellations. He added there is an increase in the number of train staff off work because of sickness as the coronavirus pandemic means many people with a virus now think staying at home to avoid spreading it is better than struggling into work. Michael Solomon Williams, of pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Delays and cancellations erode passengers’ faith in the railways. “The rail industry and Government must work together to invest in both the workforce and infrastructure to improve reliability across the whole network.” The operator with the highest cancellations score in the year to November 9 was Avanti West Coast at 7.8%. It was followed by CrossCountry (7.4%), Northern (5.7%) and Govia Thameslink Railway (5.2%). The best performing operator was c2c – which runs services between London and Essex – with a score of 1.6%. In November, then-transport secretary Louise Haigh said train operators have been asked to prepare for their performance statistics to be displayed at most stations to boost transparency. Her successor, Heidi Alexander, told PA earlier this month: “We are clear that we need to move to a seven-day railway. “We are too over-reliant on rest day working and so that’s a big priority for me as we move into the new year.” A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Passengers are being let down by poor services, which is why we are committed to delivering the biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation. “Bringing services back into public ownership will put passengers at the heart of everything we do and allow us to reinvest into our railways. “We have been clear we will not tolerate poor performance and will continue to hold all operators to account, regardless of ownership.” A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: “We know how much passengers rely on the railway and the importance of reliable and punctual services. “Rail staff work hard to enable five million journeys every day and the industry is working together to address the main causes of delays and cancellations. “Delays and cancellations can occur due to various factors like weather and flooding, industrial action, infrastructure issues such as track or signalling faults, train faults and external incidents such as trespass. “When this happens, we are raising awareness of delay repay compensation to ensure passengers can easily claim what they are entitled to.” Published: 26/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub

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Spare double nominated for book of the year prizes

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Governments pledge to ban trail hunting in spotlight as Boxing Day hunts meet

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