From synthpop to drum’n’bass, the company had a roster of edgy stars – and let them do what they wanted. As a new podcast is launched, artists and staff remember the extreme work environment

‘My eyes have started to fucking flicker because you just mentioned London Records,” says Goldie, having an involuntary physical reaction at the mere thought of his old label. “If a nightclub could be a record company, it would have been London Records. It was the equivalent of Studio 54. It looked like a normal record company from the outside – shiny, lots of nice cars on the driveway – but it was the craziest, most hedonistic madness.”

A new six-part podcast, Hit That Perfect Beat – The London Records Story, is delving into its colourful history. The label was originally part of Decca Records, once home to the likes of the Rolling Stones, but when Decca was acquired by Polygram in 1980, London began a new chapter as an independent label operating with major label distribution. “We were put in there to develop it into a pop label,” recalls ex-managing director Colin Bell, who was a pivotal figure alongside Roger Ames and Tracy Bennet. “We were obsessed with being cool. We wanted to be easily identifiable for a generation of young people. We wanted pop that had an edge.”

For 150 years, the Mease had been altered by human hands, which destroyed habitats. But in 2013, a restoration project began – and now its wetlands are abuzz with wildlife

‘A noisy river is a healthy river,” says Ruth Needham of the Trent Rivers Trust (TRT). The Mease in the Midlands must be in fine fettle, then, as it gurgles merrily along. Sunlight glints off riffles in the water and shoals of fry dart past. Needham whips out her phone to video the tiny fish: “My colleagues will be jumping for joy to see them!”

Needham has good reason to be buoyant. Last month, the Mease won the UK River prize 2026 – which was established by the River Restoration Centre in 2014 to acknowledge innovative projects – in recognition of the trust’s 13-year restoration campaign. “The prize has been a massive boost,” says Needham. “If we can get the Mease into better condition, we can improve other rivers, too.”

‘We wanted to get people to work together’ … Ruth Needham of the Trent Rivers Trust

Trusting a rookie coach to rebuild the club in late 2019 was a big call but after three runners-up finishes the Spaniard has delivered a long-awaited title

They say good things come to those who wait, and for Arsenal supporters it has felt like an eternity. Since their unforgettable 2003-04 season when Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles went the top-flight campaign unbeaten, their team had spent an incredible 984 days at the top of the table without being champions. Until now.

After all the disappointments of the late Wenger era and finishing as runners-up in the past three seasons, that unwanted statistic can finally be put to bed after a campaign in which Mikel Arteta’s side have shown they are capable of holding their nerve. There have been many doubters along the way, not least during a disastrous April during which Arsenal lost twice to their chief rivals, Manchester City, in a run of four consecutive domestic defeats in three competitions. But it is a triumph that rewards the faith shown by the hierarchy towards a rookie manager who arrived a week before Christmas in 2019 on a mission to restore them to former glories.

You’d expect the public face of Brexit to be punished by voters. But history shows that leaders often profit from the chaos they sow

The biggest Brexit donor was the stockbroker Peter Hargreaves. He gave £3.2m to the leave campaign. He justified his enthusiasm as follows: “We will get out there and we will become incredibly successful because we will be insecure again. And insecurity is fantastic.” If you are wondering, “Fantastic for whom?”, the current television ad for the company he co-founded, Hargreaves Lansdown, could supply an answer. It presents itself as a safe haven in times of disruptive change. Among the examples it provides? Brexit.

Perhaps our most poignant political folk tale is the notion of accountability. Those who hurt and undermine us will be punished, while those who help us will be rewarded. In reality, little in either business or politics could be further from the truth. A more reliable rule is that those who generate insecurity profit from it.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

Trolling and other forms of online violence against female journalists have also triggered offline attacks, harassment and abuse. Some reporters have paid with their lives

• Support independent journalism today

This month, to mark World Press Freedom Day, the Guardian has been highlighting the growing threats to journalists around the world, particularly those working in conflict zones and under authoritarian regimes.

Today, I’d like to share some thoughts on the specific dangers faced by female reporters. We can’t talk about press freedom without talking about misogyny.

Tatiana Maslany and Murray Bartlett are brilliant in this twisty drama about a woman being blackmailed by a camboy. It’s moreish, inventive – and there’s not a single weak link in the cast

Beware the beautiful camboy. And never trust Murray Bartlett. These seem to be the main life lessons to take from Apple TV’s new 10-part series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed and, the deeper we go into the tense and twisty mass of plot shot through with black comedy, the greater the wisdom becomes.

The beautiful camboy is called Trevor (Brandon Flynn), which I guess explains why he is trying to make it on looks alone. He is the therapist-with-benefits, used by newly divorced mother-of-one Paula (Tatiana Maslany) when she is alone in her apartment because her husband has main custody of their daughter, Hazel (Nola Wallace). There are suggestions of previous instability and erratic behaviour. These are not about to serve Paula well.

PM also announces 12-month road tax holiday for hauliers and claims that changes to Russian oil rules include new sanctions

• UK relaxes strict sanctions on Russian crude as oil costs soar

Labour is in a curious, transitional state at the moment. Officially Keir Starmer is committed to staying as leader and prime minister until the next election. There is no formal leadership contest underway. But, informally, it has already started, with Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting already setting out their offer to the Labour membership. We will hear more from Streeting this afternoon. But much of the parliamentary party is already working on the basis that a Burnham premiership is all-but-inevitable, and so Streeting’s interventions may turn out to be more about shoring up his position in a potential future Burnham administration than a rehearsal for an election that may never happen.

Here are some of the stories out today covering Starmer, Burnham and Streeting.

Ailbhe Rea in the New Statesman says an insider describes the atmosphere in No 10 now as “very, very odd”. She says:

Starmer and his remaining loyal cabinet ministers want to make every day that they are still in office count, and are determined to cut through the noise of the leadership drama. Many cabinet ministers, who may not survive long in their posts if Starmer is replaced as Prime Minister, are desperate to set a legacy and bank achievements in their briefs while they can. “Let’s get out there and make the case for what we’re doing,” has been Starmer’s message to colleagues. There is even a fleeting hope inside Downing Street that the leadership speculation “burns itself out”, that “Wes and Andy tearing chunks out of each other for weeks might just make Keir look better”. But even many loyalists accept that is wishful thinking. “The writing is on the wall, even if we don’t know exactly what form that takes yet,” one concludes.

Patrick Maguire, Geraldine Scott and Larisa Brown in the Times say Starmer could stay in Downing Street until early next year. They report:

Ministers familiar with Starmer’s thinking say he has no plans to step down before the Labour Party conference in September and is unlikely to relinquish office before Christmas.

They told The State of It, the political podcast from The Times and Sunday Times, that there were still significant obstacles ahead for Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who on Tuesday refused to rule out breaking Labour’s manifesto pledge against tax rises.

Caroline Wheeler in the i says cabinet ministers are already angling for jobs in a Burnham administration. She says:

Senior ministers are preparing visits to Makerfield amid growing expectations in Westminster that Burnham could ultimately take the Labour leadership – and with it the power to appoint the next Cabinet.

“The equation cabinet ministers are making is that if they go and he wins they will get a plum job,” one senior source said. “If they don’t go and he wins, he will remember. And if they don’t go and he loses, he will remember.”

Many now believe that Burnham is lining up to make Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, as his chancellor. It comes as Miliband’s special adviser was seconded to work with Burnham for the by-election campaign …

Burnham is also widely expected to make Lucy Powell, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, his deputy prime minister. Multiple sources said that other women likely to be given top jobs include Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, and Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary, who is also the co-chair of the influential soft-left Tribune group of MPs.

Sam Blewett at Politico has taken an in-depth look at the team supporting Burnham. He says the key figure is Kevin Lee, director of the Greater Manchester mayor’s office, who has been advising Burnham with little break since 2010.

Chancellor’s planning shake-up would ‘reduce exposure from judicial review on all but human rights grounds’

Rachel Reeves is ​preparing to announce a planning shake-up ‌that would fast-track clean energy ​and infrastructure projects by curbing judicial reviews, the ​Treasury has said.

The chancellor will propose that parliament should be able to designate and approve the most important clean energy projects as of “critical national importance”, as part of a wider package seeking to soften the economic blow from the Iran crisis.

James Roscoe had served as deputy ambassador to US since 2022 and stood in after Peter Mandelson’s departure

Britain’s second most senior diplomat in Washington, who stood in as interim ambassador after the sacking of Peter Mandelson, has abruptly left his post.

The UK government gave no reason for James Roscoe’s sudden departure, which comes amid an investigation into the leak of discussions at a meeting of the UK’s national security council.

Wife of former PM, who encountered Worboys in 2007, says parole refusal last week was ‘huge relief’

Carrie Johnson, the wife of the former prime minister Boris Johnson, has said there could be “up to 1,000, if not more”, victims of the black-cab rapist, John Worboys.

Johnson, who helped bring the serial sex attacker to justice, said she had been contacted by more women who believed they had been assaulted by him.