Premier sports

Andy Burnham took part in the Great North Run, a half marathon, finishing in 1 hour 57 minutes. Some other prime ministers who competed in office:

– Edward Heath captained his sailing boat, Morning Cloud, on the 600-mile Fastnet Yacht Race, finishing in 14th place but helping Great Britain to regain the Admiral’s Cup.

– Alec Douglas-Home took part in charity cricket matches while PM, having played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Middlesex in his younger days.

– Keir Starmer continued to put in the occasional match for a five-a-side football team in Kentish Town.

Party favours

Reform received two record-breaking donations totalling £72 million in 48 hours. How have political donations changed since the year of the last general election?

2024

Labour                  £42.1m

Conservative       £32.2m

Lib Dems             £12.2m

Reform                    £3.1m

SNP                         £2.0m

Green party            £1.1m

2026

Labour                     £7.7m

Conservative       £10.2m

Lib Dems                £5.1m

Reform                 £14.9m

SNP                   £538,000

Green party      £480,000

Source: DonationWatch

Paying visitors

Which cities have the highest tourist taxes? By percentage on bookings:

Los Angeles                                      15.5%

Washington                                    14.95%

New York                                       14.75%

Las Vegas                                       13.38%

Edinburgh                                                 5%

Euros per person per night:

Barcelona and Milan                               12

State of independence

The leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein signed a pact demanding the ‘right to self-determination’. Do they have the support of their people?

Some polls:

Scottish independence

May 2026, Norstat: 49% for, 45% against

June 2026, YouGov: 43% to 44%

August 2026, Survation: 47% to 43%

Welsh independence

March 2025, Redfield & Wilton Strategies: 35% for, 50% against

January 2026, YouGov: 26% to 54%

August 2026, Survation: 26% to 51%

– Northern Ireland joining the Republic

August 2024, Social Market Research: 34% for, 49% against

May 2026, Institute of Irish Studies: 36% to 50%