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Voices

<p>This week, the Labour leadership met union bosses to agree to ‘the biggest levelling-up of workers’ rights for a generation’ </p>
ANDREW GRICE

Could banning zero-hour contracts be Labour’s downfall?

The party’s ‘new deal’ for working people – billed by Keir Starmer as the biggest levelling-up of employment rights for a generation – enjoys wide support among the public, the trade unions are on side, and it would boost the economy. So why is the opposition so nervous about it, asks Andrew Grice

<p>Queen Camilla has promised that she will buy no new fur products</p>
chas newkey-burden

Camilla giving up real fur? This is what leadership is all about

<p>‘As we wait for the full report, I am reminded not just of my own hurts, but of all the maternity reports that have come before’ </p>
dr alexis paton

Seven easy ways to make maternity care safer for women

<p>Only 11 per cent of people know Starmer’s father was a toolmaker, while 18 per cent know Sunak’s father was a family doctor</p>
Andrew Grice

Polling reveals voters don’t care about politicians’ upbringing

<p>A charitable foundation was set up after the suicide of Charlie Watkins</p>
Alastair campbell

I’ve been close to suicide, and it’s not something to face alone

<p>Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, receives flowers upon her arrival in Lagos, the Nigerian capital </p>
Sean O’Grady

Might Harry and Meghan’s original Megxit plan actually have worked?

<p>Rishi Sunak delivers a keynote address at the Policy Exchange think tank in central London on Monday </p>
The Independent View

You’ve fired the election starting gun, Mr Sunak, let’s get on with it

<p>Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky meets US secretary of state Antony Blinken in Kyiv on Tuesday </p>
The Independent View

It’s time we gave Ukraine the tools it needs to finish the job

<p>Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in Lagos during their private tour of Nigeria </p>
Caroline Brown

Meghan’s virtue signalling over her children is insensitive (at best)

<p>‘I camped alone in bear country, just outside Gnishik in Vayots Dzor, Armenia’ </p>
Voices

I literally had to choose ‘men or bear’ in the wild – I chose wrong

<p>Sunak’s threats come over as if given by a petulant babysitter</p>
Letters

Now the Tory bribes have failed, it’s time to get tough

<p>Younger home buyers are being forced to gamble with their retirement prospects by taking on ultra-long mortgages, according to former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb</p>
Business

The rise of the 40-year mortgage and the dangers for homeowners

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Voices

Israel banning Al Jazeera is right out of the authoritarian playbook

Voices

Israel banning Al Jazeera is right out of the authoritarian playbook

Head shot of Eric Lewis
Eric Lewis
<p>Piers Morgan has promised to satiate fans’ desires by airing an interview with Fiona Harvey, the 58-year-old Scottish lawyer on whom Martha is allegedly based</p>
Voices

Piers Morgan isn’t the problem with the Baby Reindeer interview

<p>As far as I am concerned the name ‘Piers Morgan’ is a byword for mindless sensationalism, but even for him this is a low point</p>
Voices

Piers Morgan’s Baby Reindeer interview was as bad as you’d expect

<p>Today was a sure sign that Rishi Sunak is running out of ideas </p>
Letters

We know now that the Conservatives put the party over patriotism

<p>In his speech on national security, Rishi Sunak warned the world is now ‘closer to nuclear escalation than at any point since Cuban missile crisis’ </p>
Voices

Rishi Sunak presses the reset on defence… and misses

<p>In his speech on national security, Rishi Sunak warned the world is now ‘closer to nuclear escalation than at any point since Cuban missile crisis’ </p>
Voices

Rishi Sunak presses the reset on defence… and misses

<p>I wish them luck as they are marched off to fight for a country that has done so much for them</p>
Voices

Dud’s army: How on earth will Gen Z cope with conscription?

<p>Biden’s grid plan is both necessary and entirely at risk of being cut back or wiped out by an incoming Trump administration </p>
Voices

Biden’s next climate move could be a huge roll of the electoral dice

Most commented

Joe Biden has done more than arm Israel. He’s complicit in Gaza’s devastating famine

377 comments

Brexit blamed as court ruling leaves UK immigration policy in chaos

276 comments

PMQs latest: Starmer and Sunak clash over security and rainbow lanyard ban

206 comments

Minister urges MPs to ignore Farage health myth as Chinese ambassador summoned - live

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<p>Nemo wins the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo </p>
Voices

Forget the protests – it’s Eurovision’s polish that will be its ruin

<p>Dover MP Natalie Elphicke defected from the Tories to Labour</p>
The Independent View

Labour should think carefully before allowing more Tories to join

<p>Foreign secretary and former PM David Cameron said voters should give the Tories more time</p>
Letters

Tories tell us ‘the plan is working’ – but do they really have one?

<p>As the daughter of two first-generation Pakistani immigrant GPs, I am no stranger to racism</p>
Voices

The racism I experience as a doctor puts the NHS to shame

<p>Seven bottles of Richebourg 1993 from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti were sold from Le Gavroche’s wine cellar </p>
Voices

Does any wine deserve to sell for thousands of pounds?

<p>Two women, aged 82 and 85, have been charged over a protest in London which saw them attempt to get access to the Magna Carta </p>
Letters

Destructive protests don’t help anybody

<p>As the daughter of two first-generation Pakistani immigrant GPs, I am no stranger to racism</p>
Voices

The racism I experience as a doctor puts the NHS to shame

<p>Seven bottles of Richebourg 1993 from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti were sold from Le Gavroche’s wine cellar </p>
Voices

Does any wine deserve to sell for thousands of pounds?

<p>Two women, aged 82 and 85, have been charged over a protest in London which saw them attempt to get access to the Magna Carta </p>
Letters

Destructive protests don’t help anybody

<p>Irish artist Bambie Thug, a favourite to win the competition, missed their dress rehearsal earlier today, and has suggested they may not perform at this evening’s event</p>
Voices

Is this the most chaotic Eurovision Song Contest ever?

Voices

Is this the most chaotic Eurovision Song Contest ever?

Ryan Coogan
<p>Irish artist Bambie Thug, a favourite to win the competition, missed their dress rehearsal earlier today, and has suggested they may not perform at this evening’s event</p>
<p>Black officers are 81 per cent more likely to be in the misconduct system than their white counterparts</p>
The Independent View

It’s time to take real action against racism in our police force

<p>Starmer and Reeves are credible compared with Sunak and Hunt</p>
Voices

Could Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves get lucky with the economy?

<p>‘Baby Reindeer’ is a real-life drama inspired by Richard Gadd’s experience of being stalked by an older woman</p>
Voices

Would Baby Reindeer have had the same reaction if Martha was a man?

<p>Tony Blair waves to his supporters upon his arrival at Downing Street, after winning the 1997 general election against John Major</p>
Voices

1997 all over again? The state we’re in today is even more precarious

<p>Tony Blair waves to his supporters upon his arrival at Downing Street, after winning the 1997 general election against John Major</p>
Voices

1997 all over again? The state we’re in today is even more precarious

<p>Those who love the former president will love him all the more</p>
Voices

Stormy Daniels has given Trump one thing he always wanted

<p>Would right-winger Elphicke have survived the vetting process to become a Labour parliamentary candidate?</p>
Voices

Has Starmer ditched morality in favour of winning a majority?

<p>Croatia’s Baby Lasagne: ‘There’s no place for the cringeworthy in Eurovision any more – it’s polished and professional all the way’ </p>
Voices

Eurovision is broken. Here’s how to fix it

<p>Keir Starmer is too cautious and too politically savvy to adopt Rishi Sunak’s foolishly overambitious slogan</p>
The Independent View

Starmer has pledged to ‘stop the chaos’ – but can he ‘stop the boats’?

<p>The Labour Party has become a fit home for politicans like Elphicke</p>
Letters

Elphicke hasn’t changed, it’s the Labour Party that has

<p>Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak claim the economy has ‘turned a corner’ </p>
Voices

The economy is out of recession – but, hold on, there may be a catch…

<p>University chiefs around the world are currently terrified </p>
Voices

Why are free speech defenders not helping campus protesters?

<p>‘I recently sat through a video showing harmful images and videos, like those that Brianna would have watched on social media’</p>
Voices

I lost Brianna to the dark side of the web. Here’s what we must do

<p>At the weight of the previous sky, and the roads / Were washed clean and now dry for a Thursday night, / When bikers meet weekly to be among motorbikes</p>
Voices

What it’s like to belong to a biker ‘gang’

<p>Surely, new MPs must have some loose, tenuous, hint of a link to whatever values and principles you hold as a political party? </p>
Letters

Is there anyone a ‘changed Labour’ wouldn’t accept?

<p>Diane Abbott had the Labour whip suspended in April 2023 after she suggested Jewish people did not face racism, but suffered ‘prejudice’ similar to those with ginger hair</p>
The Independent View

Starmer was right to bring Natalie Elphicke on board, despite the risk

The Independent View

Starmer was right to bring Natalie Elphicke on board, despite the risk

Editorial
<p>Diane Abbott had the Labour whip suspended in April 2023 after she suggested Jewish people did not face racism, but suffered ‘prejudice’ similar to those with ginger hair</p>
<p>Will the Bank of England offer borrowers some June sunshine? </p>
Business Comment

Bank of England ‘optimistic’ about better news for homeowners

<p>President Biden has said that if Israel’s operation in Rafah went ahead, he would withhold US weapons</p>
Voices

For Biden and Netanyahu, Gaza is a political balancing act

<p>‘I can only compare image-based sexual abuse to what it would be like if your house was on fire’ </p>
Voices

Georgia Harrison: How I got OnlyFans to take down revenge porn videos

<p>Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke in his parliamentary office</p>
Voices

Labour’s backlash against Natalie Elphicke will reshape the party

<p>Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke in his parliamentary office</p>
Voices

Labour’s backlash against Natalie Elphicke will reshape the party

<p>It’s not her first rodeo – for more than a decade, Kardashian has served up controversial looks; many of which appear anatomically impossible</p>
Voices

Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala dress shows she’s a terrible role model

<p>We were relegated to the steps because the Garrick closed its iron gates to women and refused us entry to deliver a letter. We had to ask a man to deliver it for us. Oh, the irony!</p>
Voices

I forced the Garrick Club to admit women – here’s where should be next

<p>Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover, has crossed the floor to join the Labour Party </p>
Voices

Natalie Elphicke’s defection was handled with brutal efficiency

<p>The time will soon come, if it has not already, where we realise that laws, regulators and codes can only ever do so much</p>
The Independent View

Ofcom – and parents – must do more to protect children online

<p>The brevity of the couple’s lovemaking – and its unsatisfactory nature from her point of view – is a constant feature of the accounts Daniels gives</p>
Voices

Stormy Daniels, Trump and the lurid details that will haunt me forever

<p>It is crucial to identify the cause of the vaccine’s side effects and be completely transparent with public</p>
Letters

AstraZeneca withdrawing its vaccine is more dangerous than we think

<p>AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine</p>
Voices

The truth about AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine

<p>The Tories’ traditional economic card might have worked against Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, but it won’t work against Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves</p>
Voices

The economy is getting better. Is it enough to save the Tories?

<p>Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has promised new laws will end ‘the rise of so-called ‘gender-neutral’ mixed sex toilet spaces, which deny privacy and dignity to both men and women’ </p>
Voices

I’m non-binary – why does it bother you which toilets I use?

<p>China has been implicated in the hack of an armed forces payroll system operated by a private contractor for the Ministry of Defence </p>
Voices

We know China targeted the MOD – the question is, what to do about it

<p>Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah, southern Gaza</p>
The Independent View

If Rafah is attacked, Israel will have nothing to show for its war

The Independent View

If Rafah is attacked, Israel will have nothing to show for its war

Editorial
<p>Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah, southern Gaza</p>
<p>It’s likely that Sunak’s disunited party will stage a culture war, all while we wait for a general election</p>
Letters

Sunak will spend the next six months treading water

<p>Public toilets are a rare convenience in London these days </p>
Letters

London is an embarrassment thanks to its lack of public loos

<p>Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride’s latest idea, the WorkWell scheme, ‘has gone down like a tuna milkshake’</p>
Voices

So you think there’s no harm tormenting the long-term sick, minister?

<p>‘Israel’s invasion of Rafah will be a humanitarian disaster on a whole new level’ </p>
Voices

I’ve been on the ground in Rafah – what I saw there horrified me

<p>‘Israel’s invasion of Rafah will be a humanitarian disaster on a whole new level’ </p>
Voices

I’ve been on the ground in Rafah – what I saw there horrified me

<p>Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, in a speech in the City of London, accused the Conservatives of ‘gaslighting’ the public over the state of the economy</p>
Voices

Shrewd, partisan, ruthless… Rachel Reeves has learned from the best

<p>Drivers will be subjected to London’s ultra low emission zone (Ulez) rules if they move off official diversion routes during this weekend’s M25 closure (Lucy North/PA)</p>
Voices

Older people should stop moaning about Ulez – it’s what Gen Z want

<p>Palestinians flee Rafah on Monday fearing an invasion by the IDF</p>
The Independent View

If Israel mounts an assault on Rafah, we’ll see desperate consequences

<p>The tactic worked at the 2015 election. It won’t work again </p>
Voices

Sunak spinning hopes of a hung parliament won’t work this time

<p>‘Going through them was miraculous, yet deeply unsettling, a portal to the already lost: times, places and even versions of ourselves that no longer exist’ </p>
Voices

What I found on an old camera changed me forever

<p>The band will be playing their upcoming shows at the Brixton Academy</p>
Voices

Arcade Fire’s £110 tickets at Brixton are part of a disturbing trend

<p>‘Listening to the woes of the women I support, struggling with either the consequences of birth, it became apparent that my duty of care was to begin advocating for these mothers’ </p>
Voices

I’m a midwife – here’s why I posed for shocking and risqué photos

<p>Kendrick Lamar and also-a-rapper Drake have been at each other’s throats for over a decade now</p>
Voices

Drake and Kendrick Lamar are right to settle things through poetry

<p>Rishi Sunak in Teesside for the mayoral result – a tiny ray of light for the Tories during the local elections </p>
The Independent View

Election results reveal how futile it would be for Sunak to tack right

<p>We must retain the good ones, and all parties must do better to minimise the extremists</p>
Letters

We need more good Conservatives like Andy Street

<p>It is only by tasting a broad range of wines that you can discover what you do and don’t love</p>
Voices

Actually, the French don’t know anything about wine...

Voices

Actually, the French don’t know anything about wine...

Head shot of Rosamund Hall
Rosamund Hall
<p>It is only by tasting a broad range of wines that you can discover what you do and don’t love</p>
<p>We are far from the first to turn our autistic experiences into comedy. Unsurprisingly, our community seems to be drawn to it</p>
Voices

Why two autistic women decided to laugh at autism – on our own terms

<p>Last Thursday, as the polls opened in various parts of the country, social media platforms saw a steady stream of virtue signalling</p>
Voices

Please spare me your smug polling station selfies

<p>‘I could have tried sliding down the handrail, but that would just have attracted attention’</p>
Voices

I was ‘shop and searched’ at Westfield

<p>Blue murder: If Sunak crawls on to the election, it may simply be because rebel Tory MPs have lost hope that changing prime minister again could save them</p>
Comment

Liam Fox: Replacing Rishi will rile Tory voters even more

<p>Blue murder: If Sunak crawls on to the election, it may simply be because rebel Tory MPs have lost hope that changing prime minister again could save them</p>
Comment

Liam Fox: Replacing Rishi will rile Tory voters even more

<p>The event was interpreted as a personal advertisement from Sunak, that when he departs No 10, he will want to work in tech, possibly, who knows, for Elon Musk himself </p>
Voices

Why is Rishi shying away from a battle with Big Tech?

<p>The Independent supports the cross-party initiative to extend the combined authority model across the whole of England</p>
The Independent View

Directly elected mayors have breathed new life into local democracy

<p>Yesterday’s results show that the electorate do not appreciate the lurch to the right by the Tories</p>
Letters

The Tories must purge their party of extremists

<p>Reinvention has always been a key part of Russell Brand’s public persona</p>
Voices

Russell Brand’s Jesus complex has finally gone too far

<p>The housing crisis now touches every age demographic and every part of the economy</p>
Voices

The root of Britain’s homelessness epidemic? Landlords – good and bad

<p>Rishi Sunak in Teesside celebrating with Ben Houchen following his re-election</p>
Voices

No, the local elections don’t point to a hung parliament

<p>The results were almost as bad for the party as they could have been – but not quite </p>
Voices

Local election results reveal some disturbing patterns for the Tories

<p>Madonna’s 81-date Celebration tour has been a critical and commercial success</p>
Voices

After rocking Rio, here’s what Madonna should do next

<p>Rishi Sunak in Teesside celebrating with Ben Houchen following his re-election</p>
Voices

No, the local elections don’t point to a hung parliament

<p>The results were almost as bad for the party as they could have been – but not quite </p>
Voices

Local election results reveal some disturbing patterns for the Tories

<p>Madonna’s 81-date Celebration tour has been a critical and commercial success</p>
Voices

After rocking Rio, here’s what Madonna should do next

<p>Martin Freeman has turned his back on vegetarianism after 38 years, and described scotch eggs as 'food of the gods'</p>
Voices

Martin Freeman is doing what every vegetarian dreams of

<p>Rishi Sunak limited the scale of the rebellion against him with pre-election policy initiatives</p>
Voices

Whatever happened to the post-election Tory bloodbath?

<p>All Starmer has to do is hold his nerve and keep the Labour vehicle pointing towards the centre ground</p>
Voices

The local elections are a triumph for Starmer’s embrace of Blairism

<p>All the indications are that Keir Starmer’s ‘changed Labour Party’ will surpass the landslide victory won by Tony Blair in 1997</p>
The Independent View

Labour is resurgent – and prepared for power

<p>If Sunak crawls on to the election, it may simply be because rebel Tory MPs have lost hope that changing prime minister again could save them </p>
Voices

For the Tories, denial is only the first stage of grief

<p>Rupert Murdoch was previously a director of News International, now News UK</p>
Voices

Tens of millions of emails deleted. What does Murdoch have to hide?

<p>‘I am a psychologist who grew up in poverty and abuse – why should I disguise who I am?’ </p>
Voices

I was told I should shut up about growing up on a council estate

<p>Did Johnson not take the opportunity to read the advice on the government website or even the back of his polling card?</p>
Letters

Boris Johnson is proving that irony is not dead, after all

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