PAUL McCartney and Ringo Starr have announced a Beatles reunion purely out of spite. 

The remaining Beatles are joining forces to play the band’s legendary hits live on stage in a series of gigs pointedly scheduled through July and August next year.

The UK and Ireland dates are thought to precede a massive US stadium tour which other, minor acts that failed to break America would have no hope of selling out.

McCartney said: “It just felt like the time was right, y’know? For the original British beat combo to step back into the spotlight, after all these years.

“We’ll be playing all those classic songs you know and love, not the half-remembered derivations without a hint of our creative ambition they inspired but the real things.

“Let me add that, even though we’ve tragically lost two members, Ringo and I have never had a cross word, genuinely enjoy each others’ company, and don’t need the money.”

Starr added: “And Paul can sing in tune.”