Artistic director of Birmingham production of The Flying Dutchman says he hopes to inspire more people to get involved

“Opera in this country is definitely not accessible,” says Byron Jackson, an international baritone and the artistic director of what is thought to be the first black- and Asian-led production of Wagner in the UK.

Opening in Birmingham on Sunday, this rendition of the German-language opera The Flying Dutchman will feature a cast from across the Commonwealth, and a number of community performers from Handsworth, Balsall Heath and farther afield in the West Midlands.

Labour lost seats including Jonathan Ashworth’s in Leicester, where angry voters say they felt ignored

When Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth lost his Leicester South seat to the pro-Palestine independent candidate Shockat Adam, it was widely seen as one of the biggest upsets of election night.

But a walk along Evington Road, a busy shopping street with a large Muslim population in the constituency, showed that all the signs were there.

Post that forms gateway to village of Tissington and costs £15k to replace is regularly damaged by vehicles

Villagers in Tissington have been left exasperated after a Grade-II listed stone pillar, which forms the gateway to the Derbyshire village, was knocked down for the 12th time in a decade.

The pillar, which was last repaired in March at a cost of £15,000, was destroyed on Sunday by “an errant farmer bringing in his hay”, said Sir Richard FitzHerbert, whose family owns Tissington Hall and the surrounding estate.