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The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton - review

The secret seven are: Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, Pam, Colin, George and not forgetting Peter and Janet's dog, Scamper. Peter can be bossy at times and likes being in charge as he is the leader of the secret seven. Janet likes the idea of being part of a secret club. Barbara likes making funny words up. Jack is forgetful and Colin has to remind him a lot! Pam can get a bit worried at times and George is normally the first to secret seven meetings. They are a secret club that enjoy having an adventure and like helping charity in fun ways.

After Jack loses his secret seven badge when the gang go out to make snowmen he decides to go and get it when he's meant to be in bed. But why - on the track next to the place that they made their snowmen - do two men do something very strange...?

When I read this book I couldn't put it down and it gripped me right to the end. I recommended this book for people who like adventure books and rate it five star.

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The Secret Seven Books In Order

Publication order of the secret seven books.

About The Author:

Enid Blyton was born August 11, 18987, and passed November 28, 1968. She was an English children’s writer who was easily considered BestSeller since the1930’s. Since that point she has sold well over 600 million copies. Her styles were quite versatile ranging from fantasy, mystery, and history. A number of her works, although old, are still quite popular. Some of her more familiar works are the Noddy Character, The Famous Five, and the Secret Seven. This excludes of course her very first book known as Child Whispers which was a 24 page collection of her poetry that was published at some point in 1922. This article shall focus on the Secret Seven, and other memorable material regarding story information and character development.

The Secret Seven Development

The Secret Seven is also known as the Secret Seven Society, and focuses on a fictional-group of detectives who happen to be children. Each character appears to be in several other individual books. The characters of the Secret Seven are Peter, the society’s leader, Janet, Peter’s sister, Barbara, Barbara, Pam, George and Colin. All of these characters in Secret Seven attend day school which is why the actual story takes place during a school term.

The Secret Seven originally appeared as 7 separate short stories written by Enid, each pertaining to one of the seven characters. She also developed a short story regarding how the secret society was formed. Although these seven individual stories were originally unnoticed they were later published in a single volume.

The Secret Seven

This story, which was published in 1949, focuses on the adventures of Jack who comes across men who take a prisoner to an abandoned dwelling. This leads to the other six children becoming involved in the attempts to figure just what is going, and this is happening.

The Secret Adventure

This story picks up with rising action, as a great treasure is stolen. What makes this particularly unusual and albeit interesting is that the children stand as witness, as the thief flees the scene of the robbery. This causes the seven to put forth all they have in order to catch the criminal.

Well Done Secret Seven

This can be initially anticipated as a little hearted, or at least the aspect of the Secret-Seven’s new abode. They now reside within a tree house in this book. All initially appears to be fine and smooth the group of seven discovers that someone else has made use of their beloved treehouse. This initially angers the group of seven, as they attempt to bring about confrontation. This is the case, howver, until

they realize the so called tree house intruder may be residing in their new home for dire reasons. This puts the group of seven to the test once again to unveil the issue, and to assist this new person who has invited themselves into their midst. This shockingly leads to the group having to thwart a gang of robbers who are planning a detailed heist.

Secret Seven on the Trail

Mystery is cranked up a notch in this exciting novel involving the group of seven. At Tigger’s Barn something quite odd begins to occur, and as detectives, the group of seven attempt to figure just what’s going on. It is said to be quite mysterious. Initially despite what is being said, Peter denounces it all as one collection of falsehoods and rumors. This seems to be the case until Jack hears a rather interesting exchange of words that causes him to question Peter’s claim.

Go Ahead Secret-Seven

This was published in 1953. Things definitely become cut from a much more serious nature in this installment. George, one of children from the group of seven is banished from the society by none other than his father. It is revealed that this was the case due to the group practicing their shadowing and following techniques. As if things are not already odd enough now, dogs begin to start vanishing. Once again, thieves prove themselves to be quite persistent and resilient, as they are revealed to be the cause behind sudden and rapid disappearance of the dogs. Some of the children letter end up kidnapped by the group, as the situation turns disparate.

Good Work Secret-Seven

This installment was published in 1954. While things remain tense, certain members-of-the-group are hit hard, as Peter and Janet’s their car has been stolen by thieves. This definitely hurls itself at the group hard, and poses several issues that need to be resolved quickly. The shocking hook is that Peter and Janet have been abducted inside of their car without the thieves knowing.

Secret-Seven Win Through

This was published in 1955. Disaster most definitely strikes in this installment. The group of seven is horrified to realize their old meeting area has been dismantled by a gardener. This definitely poses issues for future cases.

These individual novels and others collectively make up the Secret-Seven, and provide a rich and compelling story leaving the audience plenty of content until they get their hands on the next book.

Peter- he is the presumed head of the secret society. He is a depicted as lacking no confidence. He is self-assured and commanding at times. He is shown as one who’s role is not often questioned and holds down territory as a respected and bold leader. Once and a while, however, Peter is shown to be somewhat blunt and albeit candid, especially with the girls ultimately leading to what some may view as insensitive moments. In spite of this, everybody looks up to and respects him. He can be interpreted as the most experienced of the group when it comes to passing along gems of knowledge. This can be observed in times where he certainly shows a great deal of deft leadership skills and advanced decision making processes. It is safe to assume that this is at a level that far surpasses that of a normal and average ten year old boy or girl. Some negative claims may be that he is seen at times as bossy, arrogant, condescending and dictatorial.

Peter takes a role in these seven books albeit different roles, but still present. His character is fully fleshed out and shown to possess a certain amount of depth and perspective.

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The Secret Seven – Mystery of the Skull

Clearly I’m a glutton for punishment as I picked up a copy of the new Secret Seven book while at my nearest library for Bookbug with Brodie. That branch is closing for a while to be refurbished so I grabbed it before I lost the opportunity (silly as there are another seven copies across the system!).

We all know how much I tend to dislike modern remakes, adaptations and interpretations of Enid Blyton’s works. I don’t even like modern reprints with rubbish artwork and modified texts! What’s even worse is I’m not even a big fan of the Secret Seven. I only read them as an adult, and while the mysteries are generally decent enough I find most of the children far too interchangeable and bland.

So here I am about to read a book that wasn’t written by Enid Blyton about characters I’m not that fond of. I’m sure to love it (not)!

The glimmer of hope I can see is that as I don’t hold the Secret Seven in the same regard as, say, the Famous Five or Adventure Series lots, I might not be expecting so much or be so disappointed if it’s not good.

What’s it all about?

In 2017 Pamela Butchart, a Dundee author known for her Baby Aliens series, was approached by Hodder and asked to write two new Secret Seven books. The first, The Mystery of the Skull , came out in 2018 with a cover and illustrations by Tony Ross, who is responsible for the latest reprints of the Secret Seven series.

The blurb reads:

The Secret Seven Mystery of the Skull begins two weeks into the summer holidays when Janet and Peter return home from a fortnight with their gran. Peter discovers a skull in his bedroom and calls an urgent meeting of the Secret Seven. Where did the skull come from? How did it land up in Peter’s bedroom? And most importantly of all, what does this have to do with the new hotel down the road and its secretive proprietors?

It doesn’t sound very Secret-Seveny. I can’t see Enid Blyton writing about bits of dead bodies turning up anywhere let alone someone’s bedroom. I’m also not sold on the new hotel with secretive proprietors. Old hotels with secret passages are much more Blytonian.

Also not right is the title. Every other title has Secret Seven in it. Ok, so a lot of them were quite vague, but at least you knew what series they belonged to! This could be a Find-Outers book, though it’s still a bit too short a title for that. It seems unfinished, somehow. (Incidentally, apart from tipping them off that something odd is happening, the skull has no relevance to 95% of the book.)

From a Bookseller article is this sentence which doesn’t fill me with hope:

Set in the same world as Blyton’s original stories, the new mysteries promise “all the fun, adventure and humour that Butchart is known for, while satisfyingly extending this much-loved series”.

If you’re writing an Enid Blyton book you really should leave most of your personal style at home and try to channel at least a bit of Blyton! I’m imagining a zany tale worthy of David Walliams now. I don’t have a problem with Walliams – I quite enjoyed most of Gangsta Granny – but it’s not fitting for a Secret Seven book.

Where do I start?

I suppose I will start with the general story, which was probably the best thing about the book. In short; the Seven investigate the new hotel owners and discover they are digging behind the hotel. They interview Pam’s uncle about him and the other staff all being fired, and use a birthday meal at the hotel to do some snooping. There’s a midnight expedition to the digging site too, and the final chapters are concerned with the Seven searching the hotel (some of them in disguise) and uncovering the motive, the means and a few other surprises.

The detective work isn’t the best they’ve ever done but most of it stands up to scrutiny. Unfortunately they are extremely slow on the uptake at times, leaving two or three pages at a time which seem to just serve as padding as they blunder about before making an obvious conclusion.

Related post⇒ The Secret Seven reviewed

The language, the characters and everything else

The language sucks . There’s nothing even remotely recognisable about the writing. It’s full of armpits, needing to wee, throwing up, huge sweaty guys and dog drool. People are mega annoyed, told to calm their pants and Peter says Me and Janet  instead of  Janet and I.  One of the girls wears pug slippers. Yes,  pug slippers.  On a midnight search of muddy land.

Everyone either gasps, shouts or screams. It feels like half the book is in capitals. Weird appears on almost every page, at least as frequently as queer ever featured in any Blyton book. The hotel owners’ dialogue is so stilted and terrible that everyone in the village should have identified them as phoneys within one sentence. We know from fairly early on that the hotel folk are up to no good, but they are too buffoonish to be genuinely considered a frightening pair.

Some characters are slightly improved and others become worse. Pam and Barbara are still quite silly but we get to see them do more, and Janet also gets to shine a few times. Peter, on the other hand, becomes a buffoon who is late to his own meeting and, although bossy at times, acts very daft. He (and the others) return from a night time mission and nobody notices they left George behind, for over a quarter hour. They only realise when he walks in! Colin becomes afraid of the dark, ghosts, and skulls, Jack is obsessed with food, and despite these ‘unique’ insights, are still more or less interchangeable. Susie, after her brief appearance at the start is entirely absent for the rest of the book.

While most of the plot is reasonable, the three visits to search the hotel become a bit repetitive. Janet even twists her ankle on two separate occasions. The final one has Pam and Barbara going to huge lengths to disguise themselves and booking a hotel room. But then the others sneak in and steal keys, so what was the point?

When’s a Blyton not a Blyton?

When someone else writes it, and especially when they disregard everything from the original and write their own book which just happens to feature characters with the same names.

I’ve said it before: if this wasn’t supposed to be an Enid Blyton book, I wouldn’t be as hard on it. Even as a modern children’s mystery, though, it wouldn’t rate particularly highly with me. It’s nowhere near as good as the Adventure Island series for example.

I gave it two stars on GoodReads. I do not recommend. (I had intended to include a link to a preview of the first two chapters, on the official Enid Blyton website. But when I tried to check it tonight the website just keeps redirecting to spam sites. I will add it later, if the website starts behaving again.)

I’ll probably still end up reading the next one, though…

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3 Responses to The Secret Seven – Mystery of the Skull

This was such an interesting post – I don’t mind the extra books in the Malory Towers series, but I think that’s perhaps because they’re focused more on new characters than trying to expand on characters we already know, so there’s a little more leeway… I was always more of a Famous Five kid than a Secret Seven one too!

Like Liked by 1 person

Nice post, Fiona. Thank you. However, I wouldn’t buy it, because the Tony Ross cover is so ugly compared with the great illustrations from my own childhood.

I enjoyed the book but I feel like I would have liked it more if it wasn’t a secret seven book as on its own it was good but it didn’t match the rest of the books.

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The Secret Seven Paperback – Import, January 1, 2000

• Part of series The Secret Seven
• Print length 128 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Hodder Children's Books
• Publication date January 1, 2000
• Dimensions 2.76 x 0.63 x 4.33 inches
• ISBN-10 0340765356
• ISBN-13 978-0340765357
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder Children's Books; Millennium Ed edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0340765356
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0340765357
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.1 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 2.76 x 0.63 x 4.33 inches
• #18,782 in Children's Classics
• #20,068 in Children's Mystery, Detective, & Spy

About the author

Enid blyton.

Enid Blyton is one of the most popular children's authors of all time. Her books have sold over 500 million copies and have been translated into other languages more often than any other children's author.

Enid Blyton adored writing for children. She wrote over 700 books and about 2,000 short stories. The Famous Five books, now 75 years old, are her most popular. She is also the author of other favourites including The Secret Seven, The Magic Faraway Tree, Malory Towers and Noddy.

Born in London in 1897, Enid lived much of her life in Buckinghamshire and loved dogs, gardening and the countryside. She was very knowledgeable about trees, flowers, birds and animals. Dorset - where some of the Famous Five's adventures are set - was a favourite place of hers too.

Enid Blyton's stories are read and loved by millions of children (and grown-ups) all over the world. Visit enidblyton.co.uk to discover more.

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Review: Eddie Murphy brings ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ back to comedic form in nostalgic 4th installment ‘Axel F’

Jason Fraley | [email protected]

July 3, 2024, 2:03 PM

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After rescuing “SNL” and sharing the big screen with Nick Nolte in “48 Hrs.” (1982) and Dan Aykroyd in “Trading Places” (1983), Eddie Murphy became a blockbuster leading man as the fast-talking Axel Foley in “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984). Directed by Martin Brest, the fish-out-of-water comedy was the year’s top grosser at No. 1 for 13 straight weeks, inventing a new genre for “Lethal Weapon” (1987), “Rush Hour” (1998) and “Blue Streak” (1999).

Audiences couldn’t wait for the action-comedy sequel “Beverly Hills Cop II” (1987), which again became the year’s top grosser thanks to the reliably funny Murphy and slick direction by Tony Scott as his follow up to “Top Gun” (1986). Ironically, the villain was played by Brigitte Nielsen (“Rocky IV”) the same year that she divorced Sylvester Stallone, who turned down “Beverly Hills Cop” to star in “Cobra” (1986).

It was only a matter of time before Hollywood gave us “Beverly Hills Cop III” (1994), a major disappointment widely panned by critics and audiences for its lame theme-park setting at Wonder World and a surprisingly unfunny script. Director John Landis (“Animal House”) complained that a depressed Murphy insisted on making Axel too serious at every turn.

Now, 40 years after the first film and 30 years after the last, we finally get the fourth installment this Wednesday on Netflix. No, it’s not called “Beverly Hills Cop 4,” it’s called “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” named after the iconic techno theme song. The opening credits display the words “Axel F” prominently with “Beverly Hills Cop” in tiny letters, attempting to have a stand-alone title for its aging hero like “Rocky Balboa” (2006) or “Logan” (2017).

Once again, Axel Foley is back on the police force in his hometown of Detroit, preventing robberies and putting the “wise” in wise cracking. He is forced to return to Beverly Hills when he learns of a threat to his estranged daughter, Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige, “Zola”), who grew up to be a defense attorney in Los Angeles. That’s right, she defends the very types of criminals that her father puts away, calling it the “cherry on top” of her daddy issues.

It’s a welcome treat seeing Murphy back in the role of Axel, who is now the character that he’s played the most, twice as many times as he’s played Reggie Hammond, Prince Akeem, Professor Klump and Dr. Doolittle, but tied with his four turns as Donkey in the “Shrek” franchise (he even quotes the ogre by calling Luis Guzmán “layered like a glittery onion”). The mileage barely shows, bringing back the comedic timing that we loved in his prime.

Like the original, this new movie opens with Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On,” while the first action sequence features Bob Seger’s “Shakedown” from Part 2. Murphy also wears his same Detroit Lions letterman jacket and runs into plenty of old friends, including Paul Reiser as his Detroit police chief Jeffrey Friedman, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton as his L.A. partners Billy Rosewood and John Taggart, even Bronson Pinchot as the art collector turned weapons dealer Serge.

Still, a lot has changed since 1994. Frey is dead, Seger is 79 years old, and the name “Foley” makes millennials think of Matt or Mick. As Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s new cop says, “The world has changed a bit. You can’t sit across a desk from another male and say something to threaten my manhood and think I’m gonna get flustered with insecurity.” His sickest burn comes flipping through Foley’s police file: “’94, not your finest hour.”

It’s one of the strongest dialogue exchanges by screenwriters Will Beall, Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, who open with funny banter on racial relations at a Detroit Red Wings hockey game. The best scenes come between father and daughter, driving and bickering in their convertible. We also get a slick new crooked cop villain played by Kevin Bacon, who was doing “Footloose” during “Beverly Hills Cop” (Gordon-Levitt was 3 years old back then).

Australian filmmaker Mark Molloy makes his feature directorial debut after acclaimed shorts and Super Bowl commercials. He deftly helms several action sequences, namely a helicopter chase (“Pull over! I mean, land!”) that at worst recalls Kobe Bryant’s demise and at best delivers a clever cameo on a golf course. It’s almost as meta as Reinhold wearing a Guns N Roses T-shirt, repping Axel Rose as he helps Axel Foley during the final shootout.

As Gordon-Levitt shouts, “They shot our rotor!” about the malfunctioning chopper, you could say the same for the script, which comes off the axels a little down the stretch as it sticks around a little too long. At 115 minutes, “Axel F” is the longest film in the franchise compared to 105 minutes, 103 minutes and 104 minutes. Why make the longest installment at a time of society’s shortest attention spans? 100 minutes is perfect for an action comedy.

Nitpicking aside, “Axel F” mostly marks a comedic return to form for the franchise. When film history is written, the 1984 original will be the one that everyone remembers for its belly laughs and genre influence, while the 1987 sequel remains enjoyable for riding the same cultural zeitgeist. Thankfully, Part 4 is a huge step up from Part 3, washing the bad taste out of our mouth with a palate cleanser, and for that, “Axel F” is a solid win in my book.

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Hailed by The Washington Post for “his savantlike ability to name every Best Picture winner in history," Jason Fraley began at WTOP as Morning Drive Writer in 2008, film critic in 2011 and Entertainment Editor in 2014, providing daily arts coverage on-air and online.

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Money blog: Greece introduces six-day working week

Welcome to the Money blog, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Leave a comment on any of the stories we're covering below.

Wednesday 3 July 2024 23:45, UK

• Greece becomes first EU country to introduce six-day working week
• Marks & Spencer knocked off top spot as new grocer of year named
• RAC says people who fail driving test should be charged more for re-test
• Young people offered half price Amazon Prime membership
• Supermarkets reveal refund policies if deliveries come late

Essential reads

• Cheap Eats : Two Michelin-starred chef reveals his favourites in Birmingham
• Women in Business : 'We don't get invited to golf' - The women who coordinated pregnancies to start virtual cancer care business and raised £5m
• Basically... What is income tax?
• Money Problem : 'I hired a car via EasyJet but they are directing my complaint to someone else - what can I do?'
• Best of the Money blog - an archive

Ask a question or make a comment

Greece has controversially introduced a six-day working week for some sectors. 

The legislation, which came into force at the beginning of July, aims to boost productivity and employment. 

Employees of private businesses that provide around-the-clock services will have the option of working an additional two hours per day or an extra eight-hour shift.

The change means a traditional 40-hour week could be extended to 48 hours per week for some companies. 

Food service and tourism workers are not included in the initiative.

The pro-business government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said the measure is both "worker-friendly" and "deeply growth-orientated". 

However, unions have criticised the move, saying it bucks a global trend of workforces exploring a shorter week. 

Giorgos Katsambekis, a lecturer in European and international politics at Loughborough University, told our US partner site CNBC it was a "a major step back" for a workforce that is already working the longest hours in the European Union.

Hawksmoor is reportedly looking at funding options which could see the steak restaurant chain valued at around £100m.

Investment bank Stephens has been hired to run the process for the business, which is currently seeking opportunities to expand outside the UK.

Hawksmoor currently has three restaurants outside the UK, which are located in New York City, Chicago and Dublin. It has 10 other sites, including seven in London.

Private equity firm Graphite Capital owns 51% of Hawksmoor. If new investment comes in, co-founders Will Beckett and Huw Got are expected to retain their minority stake and continue to run the business.

Beckett said: "We've got a great relationship with Graphite, and together we are getting to know the US investment community in more depth. As that continues, an opportunity may emerge that we wish to explore together."

The Co-operative Bank is withdrawing its switching deal this week, leaving people just days to get £150 for free. 

New customers, who switch using the CASS system, can bag £75 upfront for opening a standard current account or an Everyday Extra account. 

They can then get paid £15 a month for five months if they also open a Regular Saver account. 

Anyone making the switch will receive the initial £75 within seven days of meeting all the qualifying criteria. 

This includes setting up two direct debits, depositing at least £1,000, making a minimum of 10 card transactions and registering for online or mobile banking. 

All of these tasks need to be completed within 30 days of making the switch. 

To qualify for the extra £75, you have to open a Regular Saver account before the last day of the month you receive the free cash incentive and deposit £50. 

The offer is due to be withdrawn on Friday 5 July.

The average monthly rent being asked outside London has hit a record high of £1,316 , according to Rightmove. 

The new record across Britain means that average advertised rents outside the capital are around 7% higher than a year earlier, the property website found. 

London has the highest rent prices in the country with an average of £2,652 per month, it said. 

The South East has the second highest at £1,836, which is a 6% rise since last year. 

The cheapest region is the North East, which typically costs £894 a month. 

Rightmove has urged the next government to accelerate housebuilding and incentivise landlords to invest in more homes for tenants. 

A budget supermarket chain has announced higher welfare standards for its chickens . 

Aldi has said it will introduce improved stocking density requirements for its fresh chicken suppliers, which will mean the birds have 20% more space than the industry standard. 

The extra space will let the chickens engage in "natural behaviours" such as stretching their wings, dust bathing and roaming, it said. 

"Animal welfare is of paramount importance to us," said Aldi's managing director of buying, Julie Ashfield.

"We're already one of the UK's largest providers of responsibly farmed chicken and we've been working hard with our suppliers to reduce stocking density to help us improve the living conditions of these animals even further." 

The move is due to be completed by October 2024. 

Younger adults find financial jargon harder to learn than a foreign language, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 adults by Klarna revealed that 64% of Gen Z (people born from 1997 onwards) consider picking up basic foreign words easier than understanding terms such as "APR", "capital gains" and "compound interest".

When it came to millennials (people aged between 28 and 43 in 2024), 57% said learning a new language was harder.

Survey respondents said the top three most confusing finance terms were "AMC" (asset management company), "IFA" (independent financial adviser) and "adverse credit".

"AER" and "compound interest rate" also made the list of the jargon people find most baffling.

Klarna is now calling for the winner of Thursday's election to "prioritise financial inclusion" in the school curriculum.

A spokesperson for the buy now, pay later service said: "Whilst foreign languages of course open up opportunities and cultural experiences, financial inclusion is just as important."

We're aiming to help you bust the jargon of complex financial terms through our Basically... series. Here are just a few examples...

Marks & Spencer is offering 20% off its new school uniforms to help parents get ready for the new school year.

The average cost of school uniform in England has dropped by 4% in 2024, according to a survey by The Schoolwear Association.

However, the average cost of compulsory secondary school uniform and sportswear items for a child starting secondary school in England is still £92.35 per pupil.

That can be a big expenditure, especially for families with multiple children.

M&S's discount excludes footwear, hosiery, underwear, outerwear, accessories, school bags and lunch boxes.

Asian-inspired eatery Itsu is looking at plans to double the number of its stores in the UK.

The chain is considering opening 80 new restaurants and has appointed Savills to advise on its expansion plans.

Itsu is looking to strengthen its foothold in London, where the majority of its restaurants are based, as well as growing its presence in new locations with flagship stores in big cities.

Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff, Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Belfast are among the UK cities currently without an Itsu store.

Kate Thompson, property director at Itsu, said: "At Itsu, we are focused on making the joy of delicious, health[ier], Asian-inspired food available to everyone across the UK and beyond.

"We look forward to working with Savills to help us deliver on our plan for growth."

A motoring research charity says a case should be made for raising driving test fees for learners who repeatedly fail.

The RAC Foundation said this would encourage prospective drivers to wait until they are ready to pass, easing the "unacceptable" backlog of tests in the UK.

Last month, AA Driving School said it obtained Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures suggesting the average waiting time for a test at the start of February was more than 18 weeks.

A ban on driving tests during COVID  lockdowns plus a driving examiner strike has led to a bottleneck of demand.

Before 2020, the average wait time was six weeks, from booking online to turning up at the test centre.

One way of addressing the issue, according to RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding, is to consider additional fees for those with several previous failures and even to offer a rebate to first-time passers.

"Forget about all the traffic jams out on the road, there is now an unacceptable amount of congestion in the test system with learners often waiting many months for a slot," he said.

"In part these jams are being caused by people who have failed multiple times and come back to take a test that might be their fourth, fifth or sixth attempt, or even greater."

Government figures show 93,204 practical car driving tests taken in the year to the end of March were at least the candidate's sixth attempt at passing.

Under the current pricing plan, practical driving tests cost £62 during weekday daytimes and £75 during evenings, weekends, and bank holidays.

Marks & Spencer's title as Britain's grocer of the year was taken away yesterday as Sainsbury's took the crown for the first time in nearly two decades.

At a lavish ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall, Sainsbury's took home the top prize in the Grocer Gold Awards ahead of M&S, Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and social enterprise The Company Shop.

The supermarket was praised for being the only "big four" supermarket (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons) to have gained shopper spend from both Aldi and Lidl amid the cost of living crisis.

"Restoring growth while increasing profits is not an easy thing to do at the best of times, but especially with the highest inflation in decades, and the discounters - and other rivals - also opening a significant number of new stores," said Adam Leyland, chair of the judging panel.

"But Sainsbury's has given shoppers permission to enjoy its wide range of food and drink through much more competitive pricing, most notably the launch of Nectar Prices last April, and its impressively rapid rollout."

Other awards handed out on the night included Britain's favourite supermarket, which was won by Tesco for the 10th year in a row.

Tesco also took home the award for employer of the year for its "pioneering" work in supporting diversity and inclusion as well as its support to young people, competitive pay, and step up in maternity and paternity benefits.

The award for customer service was won by Waitrose, while the Grocer Cup went to Greggs CEO Roisin Currie, recognising the success Greggs has had going from a high-street bakery chain into the UK's biggest fast food chain.

Santander has become the latest lender to announce cuts across a range of its mortgage products. 

The high street bank has said selected residential fixed rates will be reduced by up to 0.16% on election day.

The move, which comes after three other banks cut rates this week, could "ramp up the battle" between the UK's biggest lenders. 

Halifax and NatWest slashed rates by up to 0.23%, and Clydesdale Bank by 0.38%, earlier this week. 

"This is Santander reacting to its competitors and joining the rate reduction party," the managing director of Yellow Brick Mortgages, Stephen Perkins, told Newspage. 

"This move from Santander has the potential to ramp up the rate battle between the UK's biggest lenders." 

He said more cuts were likely, ahead of the expected base rate reduction in August. 

"Things are really hotting up now in the mortgage market," he added.

Simon Bridgland, director of Release Freedom, was less impressed by the move, saying it they are "abysmal rate reductions". 

"Any poor soul wanting a remortgage or existing Santander borrowers in need of a new deal will just have to stay on the higher existing rates," he said. 

"Residential lenders need to jump to it and drop rates further." 

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire , business reporter

The index that tracks the share price performance of the 500 largest companies listed on US stock exchanges reached a new high last night. 

The rise followed comments on lowering inflation from the head of the US central bank, known as the Fed, which sparked market optimism. 

Some of the world's biggest companies make up the index, Microsoft and Amazon being two prime examples. 

Tesla's comeback in the form of a more than 10% share price rise will also have helped the new S&P 500 record. 

Its shares were at a five-month high after the electric car maker beat Wall Street expectations as price cuts helped stimulate demand.

Here in the UK, both the FTSE100 and 250 indexes are up 0.49% and 0.47% respectively. 

The biggest faller on the FTSE 100 list of most valuable companies was JD Sports which has had a run of losses for more than a week. Today its share price was down 3.61%. 

Bad news for motorists continues as the oil price tipped higher again today, reaching $86.64.

Anyone going on holidays to a country using the euro or importing goods from the continent can get €1.1797 for their pound. 

Sterling has crept up against the dollar this month with a pound buying $1.2691. 

Oreo has released a new limited edition vanilla latte flavour.

The product is already available in select supermarkets and combines a double cream vanilla filling with a vanilla latte one.

Each pack comes with 16 biscuits included and has a recommended retail price of £1.39. 

Becky Latcham, brand manager for Oreo, said: "We're absolutely thrilled to introduce Oreo's latest innovation.

"We know Oreo fans love to be playful with the way they eat their cookies so we couldn't resist putting our own spin on the original cookie that people know and love."

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In Debate, Trump Shrugs and It’s NATO That’s Shaken

Across Asia and Europe, the event stoked concerns about American stability, both domestically and on crucial foreign policy issues like Washington’s commitment to alliances.

• Share full article

By Steven Erlanger and Motoko Rich

Steven Erlanger reported from Berlin and Motoko Rich from Tokyo, with other Times reporters contributing from around the world.

• Published June 28, 2024 Updated July 1, 2024

Amid a faltering performance by President Biden in the presidential debate Thursday night, former President Donald J. Trump caused anxiety among America’s allies with a simple shrug.

Mr. Trump has regularly disparaged NATO and even threatened to withdraw the United States from it, and during the debate, he did nothing to assuage European concerns about his antipathy toward the military alliance.

Asked by Mr. Biden if he would pull out of NATO, Mr. Trump did not answer but shrugged.

“I was very worried prior to this debate and I’m even more worried now,” said Jana Puglierin, director of the German office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Trump may or may not want to leave NATO officially, but he has every means to undermine NATO.”

At the heart of NATO is Article Five of its charter, committing each member country to the defense of all the others. “Deterrence is all about credibility, and deep down, Article Five, has always been what you make of it,” Ms. Puglierin said. “So it depends on the U.S. president making it a credible threat.”

Given Mr. Trump’s skepticism about alliances, European nations that rely on the promise of American protection, she said, are worried he might try to forge bilateral relationships with Europe “and make them transactional.”

Camille Grand, a former assistant secretary general of NATO, said that in a second term, Mr. Trump would be surrounded by people “who want to turn his instincts into policy rather than saying, ‘This is a bad idea, Mr. President.’”

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