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Voices

<p>Donald Trump and the late Queen Elizabeth II make a toast during the state banquet at Buckingham Palace in June 2019</p>
Jon Sopel

Why Trump’s second state visit to the UK may never happen...

Inviting Trump for an unprecedented second state visit was a clever diplomatic ploy by the PM, writes Jon Sopel. But actually hosting it would be fraught with risks – so is the plan to make it quietly go away?

<p>Nigel Farage with his former party chairman Zia Yusuf</p>
Andrew Grice

What can Reform do to shift the idea it is the ‘Nigel Party’?

<p>Campaigners from Surfers Against Sewage are calling for transformational reform of the water industry (Matt Alexander Media Assignments/PA)</p>
James Moore

Will the ban on water industry bonuses get flushed away?

<p>Rachel Reeves reflects on her childhood</p>
rACHEL rEEVES

Rachel Reeves: I saw what the Tories did to kids of my generation

<p></p>
The Independent View

The Trump vs Musk feud will prove a historic turning point

<p>Jeremy Allen White, Josh O’Connor and Matty Healy were all figureheads in the ‘hot rodent boyfriend’ trend</p>
Olivia Petter

The hot rodent boyfriend is officially dead – and I’m in mourning

<p>In ‘Dying for Sex’, Molly Kochan is told she has stage 4 cancer – and immediately blows up her relationship in a quest for fulfilment</p>
Dear Vix

Dear Vix: Help! I don’t know what I’m doing with my life

<p>Nigel Farage with his now former party chair Zia Yusuf</p>
John Rentoul

Inside the 24 hours in which Reform imploded

<p>Some mobile phone bills went up more than they should in April because the inflation number was wrong</p>
James Moore

The ONS scandal that has made your bills higher than they should be

<p>Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre</p>
Benedict Rogers

It’s time to wake up – and stand up – to the butchers of Beijing

<p>Hamit Coskun arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, central London, where he was found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence after a Quran was burnt outside the Turkish consulate in February</p>
Rakib Ehsan

Bringing back blasphemy laws would only be bad for Muslims

<p>Meghan Markle shared a video of herself dancing with Harry</p>
Charlotte Cripps

Don’t bash Meghan for twerking – I did something worse while pregnant

<p>This week someone broke something / Their perpetual lies carving out the air</p>
Frieda Hughes

How to find joy after being betrayed

<p>Richard Ratcliffe, during his campaign for the release his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in Iran (Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images)</p>
Richard Ratcliffe

I went on hunger strike to save my wife – here’s what helped me cope

<p>Conscription was last in place in the UK in 1960</p>
Charlotte Bendkowski

I’m Gen Z – I’d sign up to defend my country, but on one condition

<p></p>
Sean O’Grady

What will happen next in the Musk vs Trump civil war?

The end of their bromance was not as inevitable as some would have you believe, writes Sean O’Grady – but now that it’s happened, it’ll be us who pays the price

<p>The chancellor said the rules governing her stewardship of the public finances were ‘non-negotiable’</p>
Andrew Grice

Are Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer in denial about the ‘T’ word?

<p>This is the version of the Catholic Church that Pope Francis epitomised and which has been so influenced by the liberation theologians of Latin America: a church that stands in solidarity with the poor</p>
Catherine Pepinster

Is Leo XIV the liberal Pope who’s going to take on Trump?

Explore news for you

More Voices

<p>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holding a document containing images of BBC articles</p>
Voices

What the Trump administration doesn’t get about the ‘fake news’ media

Voices

What the Trump administration doesn’t get about the ‘fake news’ media

Alan Rusbridger
<p>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holding a document containing images of BBC articles</p>
<p>Aid cuts have hit programmes across Africa</p>
Voices

Global aid cuts are a massive wake-up call for Africa

<p>Chancellor Merz met with the US President at the White House on Thursday</p>
Voices

The Musk-Trump spectacle distracted from this very important meeting

<p>Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall arrives for a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street in early April</p>
Voices

I went to a DWP benefit cut consultation: Here’s what I found

<p>President Donald Trump has signed a new travel ban restricting travel to the US from 19 countries with ‘hostile attitudes’ or a ‘significant terrorist presence’</p>
Voices

Why Trump’s travel ban won’t work – and doesn’t deserve to

<p>President Donald Trump has signed a new travel ban restricting travel to the US from 19 countries with ‘hostile attitudes’ or a ‘significant terrorist presence’</p>
Voices

Why Trump’s travel ban won’t work – and doesn’t deserve to

<p>Keir Starmer serves lunch duiring a visit to a school in Harlow, Essex, on Thursday</p>
The Independent View

Eradicating child poverty must become Labour’s central mission

<p>Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader</p>
Voices

Has Scotland fallen for English nationalist Nigel Farage?

Most commented

The starvation of Gaza is a manmade catastrophe that shames us all

188 comments

Reform-led councils in ‘paralysis’ as dozens of meetings cancelled in first weeks

164 comments

Downing Street ‘exploring plan for digital ID cards’

333 comments

Trump-Musk feud live updates: President to sell Tesla amid bitter public split

477 comments
Join the Conversation

More Voices

<p>The prime minister outlined his plans for defence – including 12 new attack submarines, a £15bn upgrade to our nuclear warheads, and thousands of new long-range weapons </p>
Voices

Here’s what you need to know about Britain’s new nuclear fleet

<p>A girl reacts after receiving a cooked meal as others wait at a distribution point in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip</p>
The Independent View

The starvation of Gaza is a manmade catastrophe that shames us all

<p>Rachel Reeves faces budget conundrum in spending review</p>
Money

‘Raising taxes is political suicide’: Readers split on UK finances

<p>Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves</p>
The Independent View

Rachel Reeves must take back control of the growth agenda

<p>What is going on? Thames Water bidder walks as company lurches to new crisis</p>
Voices

Does anyone know what to do with Thames Water?

<p>Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester</p>
Voices

Will no one rid Keir Starmer of his turbulent mayors?

<p>Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves</p>
The Independent View

Rachel Reeves must take back control of the growth agenda

<p>What is going on? Thames Water bidder walks as company lurches to new crisis</p>
Voices

Does anyone know what to do with Thames Water?

<p>Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester</p>
Voices

Will no one rid Keir Starmer of his turbulent mayors?

<p>Bringing together people from every corner and community in our society could build bridges at a time when they are sorely needed</p>
Voices

I was a British army captain – here’s what I think of conscription

Voices

I was a British army captain – here’s what I think of conscription

Mike Crofts
<p>Bringing together people from every corner and community in our society could build bridges at a time when they are sorely needed</p>
<p>Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow</p>
UK Politics

‘The money tree has grown’: Readers react to Starmer’s defence review

<p>Millions of people worldwide are now using weight-loss drugs </p>
Health

Have your say: Is Ozempic fueling a new era of body image pressure?

<p>Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow, to launch the strategic defence review</p>
The Independent View

The cost of deterring Russian aggression is high – war is higher still

<p>The Shetland Islands, one of Scotland’s most remote regions, is among the areas where house prices are rising fastest</p>
Voices

How much would you pay to live here? Now add another 20 per cent…

<p>The Shetland Islands, one of Scotland’s most remote regions, is among the areas where house prices are rising fastest</p>
Voices

How much would you pay to live here? Now add another 20 per cent…

<p>Sarah Vine, pictured in 2016 with her then husband Michael Gove, has written a memoir</p>
Voices

Calling Cameron a ‘man baby’ for resigning over Brexit is childish

<p>Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow</p>
Voices

That’s fighting talk, prime minister – but can you deliver?

<p>Many voters rate Farage higher than Starmer on many qualities, but they do not think he is prime ministeria</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer has found Nigel Farage’s weak spot: Trussonomics

<p>Robert Jenrick tackled fare dodgers at Stratford station on the London Underground</p>
Voices

Robert Jenrick has joined my one-woman battle against fare-dodgers

<p>‘A political party cannot survive by stunts alone, but it might help the Tories a bit, at the margins, to have an unconventional communicator such as Jenrick in charge’</p>
Voices

Robert Jenrick’s TfL stunt reminds us how simple politics can be

<p>Zack Polanski is the deputy leader of the Green Party and is currently running in the leadership race</p>
Voices

I want the Greens to be a populist party – here’s how

<p>The attorney general, Lord Richard Hermer, compared Reform and the Tories to the Nazis during a lecture this week</p>
Voices

It’s never a good idea to call people Nazis if they are not Nazis

<p>‘When people say, “There wasn’t all this in my day,” the answer is usually: there was, but it wasn’t considered “nice”.’</p>
Voices

The near-2.5m Brits with ADHD are not making it up

<p>Children who haven’t witnessed much same-sex affection will often stare</p>
Voices

I’m gay – please don’t make me go on holiday with children

<p>Giovanna Fletcher joins staff and volunteers at Bicester Baby Bank to make a parcel of supplies for a newborn including clothes, toys and toiletries</p>
The Independent View

With families facing impossible choices, Labour’s should be easy

<p>‘If the content is inauthentic, it can leave a bad taste. But when Meghan’s garden bounty is so delicious, who cares whether she did or didn’t grow it?’</p>
Voices

Give Meghan a break – little ‘cheats’ make the social whirl go round

Voices

Give Meghan a break – little ‘cheats’ make the social whirl go round

Charlotte Cripps
<p>‘If the content is inauthentic, it can leave a bad taste. But when Meghan’s garden bounty is so delicious, who cares whether she did or didn’t grow it?’</p>
<p>‘Wine fairs and festivals are easily one of the greatest ways to immerse yourself in all that is wonderful about wine’</p>
Voices

This summer, the best wine festivals are in the UK – hurrah!

<p>TV favourite Hacks: ‘Look at the roster of successful comedians who – shock! – happen to be women’</p>
Voices

Think women aren’t funny? You clearly don’t know many

<p>‘I’m a spontaneous and sporadic smoker so I expect I will just go back to buying old-fashioned fags – and many people who want to smoke will do the same’</p>
Voices

Farewell to disposable vapes (and hello to my stockpile)

<p>From a helicopter, Swiss federal president Karin Keller-Sutter observes the damage caused by the catastrophic landslide destroying the village of Blatten in Switzerland </p>
Voices

Intense weather events will stay – it’s up to us how intense they get

<p>From a helicopter, Swiss federal president Karin Keller-Sutter observes the damage caused by the catastrophic landslide destroying the village of Blatten in Switzerland </p>
Voices

Intense weather events will stay – it’s up to us how intense they get

<p>Doctors must avoid unfair and discriminatory blanket bans based on arbitrary weight limits</p>
The Independent View

Denying joint operations to obese patients is counterproductive

<p>‘In a week in which we have Trump’s crackers AI video, I would argue that a dog sound bath is the only sane response’</p>
Voices

As the world went Trump mad, I took my pet for a doggy sound bath

<p>‘The vast majority of the public is not anti-migrant. They are anti-chaos. People want to see competence, not culture wars’</p>
Voices

It is time the left made a case for immigration and how to control it

<p>Kat Brown (back row, centre) and contributors to her anthology ‘No One Talks About This Stuff’</p>
Voices

Writing a book was meant to be a dream, but it turned into a nightmare

<p>A Palestinian boy carries US aid back to his family at Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor</p>
The Independent View

Trump could yet deliver a Middle East ceasefire

<p>A new Commons committee is set to look at whether MPs should continue to make paid TV appearances</p>
Voices

GB News is starting to challenge the BBC – we should be worried

<p>Doctors are threatening to strike over 4 per cent raise </p>
Health

Readers frustrated by threat of further NHS strikes - ‘it’s wrong’

<p>Frieda once had a female Eurasian eagle owl, as well as six males – or, at least, that’s what she thought...</p>
Voices

On discovering the real sex of my owl, I began to hatch a plan

<p>‘There is no global ethnic majority group, unless you take the incredibly white-centred view of the world that all non-white people are a group of their own’ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://trksof.xyz/life-style/new-york-racial-discrimination-donald-trump-presidency-campaign-human-rights-law-bill-de-blasio-a7762511.html%22e=New%20York%20City%20launches%20powerful%20campaign%20to%20tackle%20discrimination"></a><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=New%20York%20City%20launches%20powerful%20campaign%20to%20tackle%20discrimination%20https://trksof.xyz/life-style/new-york-racial-discrimination-donald-trump-presidency-campaign-human-rights-law-bill-de-blasio-a7762511.html"></a><a href="mailto:?subject=New%20York%20City%20launches%20powerful%20campaign%20to%20tackle%20discrimination&body=https://trksof.xyz/life-style/new-york-racial-discrimination-donald-trump-presidency-campaign-human-rights-law-bill-de-blasio-a7762511.html"></a></p>
Voices

Nobody understands what ‘global majority’ means – so let’s not use it

<p>Palestinian children collect food donated by charities in Khan Younis, Gaza</p>
The Independent View

Gaza’s unfolding famine is an obscenity the world must not tolerate

<p>A terminator robot in the film Terminator: Salvation</p>
Voices

In the robot wars, humans will be redundant – except as casualties

Voices

In the robot wars, humans will be redundant – except as casualties

Sean O'Grady
<p>A terminator robot in the film Terminator: Salvation</p>
<p>‘To keep covered in good sunscreen to the level that I need costs me a fortune’</p>
Voices

Heatwaves hit different when you’re a redhead

<p>‘Working-class’ hero Nigel Farage </p>
Voices

There’s now a surefire way to defeat ‘left-wing’ Nigel Farage

<p> Hen parties can be heaven... or hell</p>
Voices

Hen do? For me, it’s hen don’t – especially if it’s abroad

<p>‘If Trump loses his tariff battle in the courts, it is Musk’s brief and constitutionally questionable tenure at the White House that could have a farther-reaching legacy’</p>
Voices

Who’ll draw first blood in the tariff wars: Trump or the US courts?

<p>‘If Trump loses his tariff battle in the courts, it is Musk’s brief and constitutionally questionable tenure at the White House that could have a farther-reaching legacy’</p>
Voices

Who’ll draw first blood in the tariff wars: Trump or the US courts?

<p>In Still Alice (2014), Julianne Moore stars as a linguistics professor whose life begins to fall apart when she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's</p>
Voices

Dear Vix: Are these worrying symptoms a sign of dementia?

<p>I used to be a corporate girlie – WFH made me realise I no longer want to be, writes Emma Clarke</p>
Voices

This latest WFH revelation makes me see office workers in a new light

<p>Hardlife, 15, and Shallom, 16, separately lost their parents to HIV in the last few months – Chimanimani, Zimbabwe</p>
The Independent View

Donald Trump must lift the death sentence on HIV patients

<p>Wes Streeting is the government’s health secretary</p>
Health

Have your say: Are doctors right to threaten more strikes over pay?

<p>Harvard students celebrate their graduation on the university’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts</p>
Voices

Trump’s attack on Harvard is an opportunity for our universities

<p>London mayor Sadiq Khan – pictured in a cannabis farm – has backed calls to decriminalise possession of small amounts of natural cannabis</p>
Voices

Why it’s high time we changed the law on cannabis

<p>‘The UK Labour Party is London-dominated and Khan has a strong position from which to advance his career, potentially by returning to parliament either as an MP or a member of the House of Lords’</p>
Voices

What is Sadiq Khan up to with his call to decriminalise cannabis?

<p>‘Sexual and reproductive health is not a luxury, it is lifesaving’</p>
Voices

The UK cannot abandon women and girls worldwide by slashing aid

<p>Readers offered a passionate and varied response to Britain’s remote work culture</p>
Lifestyle

‘Not one size fits all’: Readers have their say on the rise of WFH

<p> Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs star in the film adaptation of ‘The Salt Path’</p>
Voices

The Salt Path won’t show the real Cornwall – but will increase tourism

<p>Police tents surrounded by debris at the scene on Water Street</p>
Voices

The Liverpool parade crash has brought out the best in our police

Voices

The Liverpool parade crash has brought out the best in our police

John Sutherland
<p>Police tents surrounded by debris at the scene on Water Street</p>
<p>Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced a policy platform in central London</p>
The Independent View

Nigel Farage has reminded Labour what voters want

<p>Brigitte Macron was caught on camera shoving the French president in the face as they were about to leave their plane, having touched down in Vietnam</p>
Voices

Has Brigitte Macron got away with ‘le slap’?

<p>Mr Netanyhu claims Britain, Canada and France are allies of Hamas because it welcomed calls for a ceasefire</p>
The Independent View

Israel is steadily destroying trust with much of the West

<p>Unhappy with a 5.4 per cent average pay rise this year, resident doctors – who took part in 11 strikes in 2023 and 2024 – are being balloted for further industrial action</p>
Voices

With the NHS now on the road to recovery, I urge doctors not to strike

<p>Unhappy with a 5.4 per cent average pay rise this year, resident doctors – who took part in 11 strikes in 2023 and 2024 – are being balloted for further industrial action</p>
Voices

With the NHS now on the road to recovery, I urge doctors not to strike

<p>The King and Queen are in Canada for a two-day visit</p>
The Independent View

King Charles’s Canada visit shows the monarchy’s diplomatic strength

<p>Donald Trump praying</p>
Voices

Trump has a new battle on his hands… to win the Nobel Peace Prize

<p>‘The lessons learned this year need to be that instead of big global pledges, we need to work with those living in and around these incredible ecosystems and give them real opportunities to make a living protecting them’</p>
Voices

Deforestation pledges will go up in flames if we ignore inequality

<p>If it’s not about getting a frisson from humiliation, I must ask why anyone would believe Reform’s new claims regarding pensioners and child poverty. It can’t be about helping the country</p>
Voices

Why would voters trust Nigel Farage’s claims?

<p>Wine enthusiasts have been saying that sherry deserves to be more popular since Shakespeare’s day, says Rosamund Hall</p>
Voices

My sherry amour – why it’s not just a drink for your nan at Christmas

<p>Illustrator Josie da Bank fell into festival organising by accident with her DJ husband, Rob da Bank</p>
Voices

I run Camp Bestival with Rob da Bank and this is what it’s really like

<p>‘Triples’ in action in Afghanistan</p>
The Independent View

We have an obligation to Afghan heroes who fought alongside Britain

<p>Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner reportedly wants to strip middle-class families of child benefit handouts (Stefan Rousseau/PA)</p>
Voices

What Rayner’s crackdown on child benefit will mean for mums like me

<p>Illustrator Josie da Bank fell into festival organising by accident with her DJ husband, Rob da Bank</p>
Voices

I run Camp Bestival with Rob da Bank and this is what it’s really like

<p>‘Triples’ in action in Afghanistan</p>
The Independent View

We have an obligation to Afghan heroes who fought alongside Britain

<p>Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner reportedly wants to strip middle-class families of child benefit handouts (Stefan Rousseau/PA)</p>
Voices

What Rayner’s crackdown on child benefit will mean for mums like me

<p>It was announced this week that Joe Biden has been diagnosed with advanced, incurable prostate cancer</p>
Voices

Jill Biden has questions to answer over her husband’s health

<p>Sir Keir Starmer’s support for Ukraine has made him a Russian target</p>
Voices

Starmer is in the crosshairs of the Kremlin

<p>Rayner’s latest ideas are not ones that Reeves asked for, but they will allow the deputy prime minister to take some of the credit</p>
Voices

Angela Rayner is the Gordon Brown of this government

<p>‘Ozempic tongue’ is the latest side effect to blight users of the weight-loss drugs </p>
Voices

I shed two stone on weight-loss drugs – then got ‘Ozempic tongue’

<p>We’re unlikely to see any juicy headline-grabbing new mortgage deals, and certainly none below the four per cent level</p>
Voices

It’s all over for interest rate cuts – get your new mortgage deal now

<p>There are tensions between Rachel Reeves (right) and cabinet colleagues as the spending review negotiations reach a climax</p>
Voices

After the winter fuel decision, Labour is openly at war with itself

<p>Labour has pledged to reform the House of Lords</p>
Voices

Peevish hereditary peers are not qualified to make rules

<p>James Timpson said it has ‘not been easy’ to rehabilitate offenders because the system is ‘teetering on disaster’ </p>
Voices

I’ve spent decades inside prisons – here’s how I’ll fix them for good

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