EXCLUSIVE Noel Edmonds is 'a coloniser who's come in like Lord Of The Manor': Furious locals slam TV star over pub plans and say they 'don't give a s***' about his fame. Now he gives HIS side of the story - and reveals 'earth angel' helping him cope

'Really, I don't miss anything,' says Noel Edmonds, excluding family and friends. The veteran broadcaster turned his back on his British career and moved 11,500 miles away to New Zealand with his wife Liz, but has no regrets. 'Because truthfully, I was already missing things while I was still living in Britain. I missed a sense of community, a slower pace of life,' he says, meaning that these things had already disappeared from this country before he left, in his opinion.
'What don't I miss? Congested roads. The pressure on education, healthcare and infrastructure. We don't have those problems here.'

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The Sun

11 hours ago

• The Sun

Blow for millions of Brit holidaymakers as price of passports set to rise again to plug growing black hole

THE price of passports is set to rise again in a massive blow to thousands of Brit holidaymakers. Ministers have been urged to increase the £95 renewal fee once more in a bid to fill a "growing black hole" in the Passport Office's budget. 1 Higher costs will affect millions of sun-seekers, with almost seven million passports issued to Brits last year. An adult passport is valid for 10 years while a children's passport is valid for five. An increase in fees could see travellers charged £32 more per application, according to The Telegraph. This comes as the Passport Office recorded a budget deficit of almost £230million last year and £916million over the past five years. The National Audit Office (NAO) said the increased fees will fill a "black hole" currently being paid for by taxpayer funds. Adults currently pay £94.50 for a new passport or £222 for a one-day renewal. Passport renewal fees have already seen a hike of £6 this year. In April, the cost of applying for a new passport online increased from £88.50 to £94.50 for adults, and from £69 to £74 for kids. Postal applications hiked from £100 to £107 for adults and from £69 to £74 for under-16s. The premium one-day-turnaround service for those in desperate need of a new passport went up to £222 from £207.50, and to £189 from £176.50 for children. 'Just an Irish thing- say travel fan as she shows off 'cool' passport feature The above-inflation rise marks the third time the price of passports have gone up in just over two years. Last April the cost of the holiday booklet rose by 7 per cent, following a hefty 9 per cent rise in February 2023. Most UK passports last for 10 years, although for many countries including the EU people need at least six months left to travel. The Home Office has long maintained it does not profit from passport sales and increase prices solely to offset higher manufacturing and processing costs. Holidays are getting more expensive anyway with airlines pushing up prices to keep pace with increased fuel costs. Jet-setters have also been braced for anti-tourist protests in party towns like Ibiza where the locals are sick of their areas being trashed.

Times

14 hours ago

• Times

I tried the Japanese loo taking the world by storm

During the Nineties, bidets were seen as the ultimate bathroom status symbol for those with enough space and a desire for cleanliness. However, with the French plumbing fixture never quite taking off, it appears an increasing number of Britons wanting to take their bathroom hygiene to the next level are now looking to Japan. Bathroom retailers are citing an increase in demand for Japanese lavatories, which has in part been put down to an heightened awareness for personal hygiene due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ilter Gokceoglu, director of Specifo, a bathroom shop in Mortlake, southwest London, said demand for toilets made by the Japanese manufacturer Toto had risen significantly since the pandemic as hygiene became 'more important to people'. Gokceoglu said: 'In the past these toilets have simply been a luxury toy for rich people and every rich person has wanted to have them in their bathroom as a status symbol.' But Gokceoglu claimed that had changed as people were drawn to the functionality of the toilets, which are increasingly seen as a status symbol among the middle classes, many of whom have travelled to Japan or stayed in plush Asian hotels. • 23 of the world's best luxury holiday destinations Toto's 'smart' lavatories come equipped with an auto-flush, a heated seat and a lid that opens and closes at the press of a button. The company's top-of-the-range models, such as their Neorest washlet, even include a lamp to assist those struggling to find the light switch during a late-night bathroom trip. As I sat on a Toto toilet seat in a showroom in Battersea, I found the seat was more comfortable than most office chairs and could be heated to a temperature of your choice. Inside all of Toto's loos there is a piece of apparatus named a wand from which water is squirted at an intensity of your choosing. It also has a deodorant spray for those really wanting to freshen up at the click of a button. Specifo, which entered the UK market in 2009 and supplies luxury hotels in London, has sold 50 per cent more smart lavatories in the past year than in the previous year, Gokceoglu said. He estimates that more than half of luxury hotels in London now have Toto washlets in their guest rooms. Louise Ashdown, the in head of design at West One Bathrooms, which has ten showrooms across London and the southeast, said the more people travelled and went to luxury resorts, such as the ones depicted in the HBO series The White Lotus, the 'more people were inspired to get the toilets in their own bathrooms'. • How to get the White Lotus look in your home Ashdown said Toto's lavatories had become an 'aspirational product', as they could be purchased for as little as £2,000, with the more expensive models costing between £12,000 and £14,000. In the same way the vacuum cleaner became synonymous with Hoover and, later, Dyson, people have begun to use Toto as shorthand for referring to a washlet toilet, Ashdown said. 'People want to have a spa feeling at home and even just a heated seat to sit on when they get up for the toilet in the middle of the night,' Ashdown said. However, there are also far cheaper options for people who want some of the functionality without the premium price tag. Generic seats with built in washlets that fit to a conventional lavatory and are easily attached to the existing plumbing are available from online retailers for about £100.

Daily Mail​

16 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

Will British holidaymakers have to pay more than £120 for a passport? Officials say the cost of renewing travel documents should RISE

British holidaymakers could see a major rise in the cost of renewing their passports under plans put forward by government officials. The National Audit Office says that the current £94.50 cost of a new travel document should increase because the Passport Office is losing so much money. The department, which has been credited with reversing a huge backlog of delays in issuing new passports, has racked up a deficit of almost a billion pounds over the past five years, including £223million last year alone. The NAO argued that without increasing the one-off payment made every 10 years taxpayers more generally would have to cover the shortfall. It did not give a figure for the rise but the Telegraph suggested it would have to rise £32 to £126.50 to recoup the lost money. A Home Office spokesperson said there were no 'immediate plans' to increase fees and any changes would almost certainly not come into effect this year. But it would be an additional financial burden for Britons at a time when the cost of living remains high. Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office said: 'Government bodies provide important services for the public and businesses, including issuing passports and driving licences, and filing company information. 'But many are not consistently recovering their costs - posing risks to the financial resilience of these services and fairness between users. 'HM Treasury should strengthen how it oversees cost recovery processes and provide more comprehensive guidance to charging bodies.' The cost of renewing passports has already risen significantly in recent years. The department drastically hiked prices for adult passports in February 2023 - from £75.50 to £82.50. Fees then rose again by 7 per cent last year - before an inflation-busting increase of 6.7 per cent in April to the current level for digital renewals. Renewing an adult passport using a paper form already costs £107, while fast track services will get you your passport in a week for £178 or a day for £222. The Home Office previously said the new fees were necessary to ensure the cost of passport operations is met without relying on taxpayer funding. It added that fees help cover passport processing, consular services for lost or stolen passports, and border operations. Nearly seven million new passports were issued last year. Adult passports are valid for ten years, while passports for children are valid for just five. The call for higher passport renewal fees came in a wider report by the National Audit Office into government services. A total £340million shortfall was found across all the services looked at - including UK Visas and Immigration, the Court and Tribunals Service and the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency. The National Audit Office's report concluded: 'Many government departments rely on charging fees to recover the costs of providing services to people and businesses. 'But none of the services we looked at recovered costs consistently, and the charges for the services may not accurately reflect the costs.' 'The government is missing opportunities to deliver efficiencies and share good practice,' it added. 'This poses risks to the financial resilience of public services, the costs of which are likely to be borne by future fee payers.'