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Voices

<p>‘It feels as if Keir Starmer is now more likely than not to cease being prime minister before the end of this parliament’</p>
John Rentoul

Starmer’s welfare humiliation is a turning point for his government

The prime minister had no choice but to give in to Labour rebels on disability benefits – but this rebellion has been handled particularly badly, says John Rentoul, who doubts the current PM will see out this parliament

<p>The chancellor claims the UK economy has ‘turned a corner’ – the Bank of England’s governor, meanwhile, suggests the opposite is true</p>
James Moore

When it’s Rachel Reeves vs Andrew Bailey, I know who my money’s on

<p>‘While some locals may well be fed up with the fuss surrounding the Bezos/Sanchos wedding, it could be argued that 200 extra people is neither here nor there in a city that welcomes some 30 million tourists each year’</p>
Angelina Villa-Clarke

Sorry, Mr Bezos, it’s no wonder you’re not welcome in Venice in June

<p>Keir Starmer has described the spraying of paint on military planes at RAF Brize Norton as ‘vandalism’ and ‘disgraceful’</p>
Alan Rusbridger

Starmer used to defend the kinds of protesters he now calls terrorists

<p>Rachel Charlton-Dailey receives £558 a month in PIP – which she expects will be lost under Labour’s welfare cuts</p>
Rachel Charlton-Dailey

If Labour cuts my PIP, I lose everything I have worked for

<p>Daniel Hannan predicted that, nine years after the Brexit vote, ‘fuel bills have tumbled’ and there’s ‘shale oil and gas on tap’ </p>
John Rentoul

So, Mr Hannan, have any of your predictions for Brexit Britain come true…?

<p>‘Working people don’t care who flips the table – Trump or Mamdani – as long as someone does’</p>
Pablo O'Hana

Zohran Mamdani’s surprise win in New York shows voter hunger for hope

    <p>Freida Hughes has lived in the same house for 21 years, cultivating the garden in that time</p>
    Frieda Hughes

    I opened up my garden to strangers – here’s how it went

    <p>The purported self-driving capabilities of Tesla vehicles have been called into question by regulators as well as crash victims</p>
    James Moore

    As Tesla’s sales slump, is it time for Elon Musk to step aside?

    <p>Fed chair Jerome Powell has refused Trump’s demand for lower US interest rates</p>
    James Moore

    Who will Trump pick to replace his ‘terrible’ and ‘stupid’ Fed boss?

    <p>Rachel Charlton-Dailey receives £558 a month in PIP – which she expects will be lost under Labour’s welfare cuts</p>
    Rachel Charlton-Dailey

    If Labour had cut my PIP, I'd have everything I've worked for

    <p></p>
    Sean O’Grady

    Trump’s refusal to accept unwelcome reality is his greatest weakness

    <p>Joan Collins took to Instagram to bemoan the Lime bikes blocking her path in Kensington, west London</p>
    Clair Woodward

    Robert Jenrick’s next crusade should be against the Lime bike menace

    <p>Entrepreneur Dr Ann Kaplan Mulholland at her home at Lympne Castle, a grade I-listed medieval manor in Kent, dating back to the 12th century</p>
    Dr Ann Kaplan Mulholland

    I’m leaving the UK because of how non-doms like me have been treated… Ciao!

    <p>Boys playing football</p>
    The Independent View

    Rather than weight-loss jabs, encourage us to be fitter and healthier

    <p>Chancellor Rachel Reeves and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner with Rob Perrins, new chair of Berkeley Group, during their visit to the Oval Village project in London</p>
    Chris Blackhurst

    Angela Rayner must learn lessons from housebuilders to succeed

    The government has big ambitions to build 1.5 million new homes – but for too long the private sector has been viewed with suspicion, writes Chris Blackhurst. It’s time for an urgent rethink

    <p>Prime minister Keir Starmer at the G7 leaders’ summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada</p>
    Andrew Grice

    Has Starmer finally mastered the art of the U-turn?

    <p>‘Mad heatwave shopping is not about sensible things like portable air con or linen clothing’</p>
    Kat Brown

    Help… I can’t stop ‘heatwave shopping’ at night!

    Explore news for you

    More Voices

    <p>It is incomprehensible that the government was proposing cuts to disability benefits without concluding their consultations with groups representing disabled people</p>
    The Independent View

    The prime minister’s welfare U-turn is to be welcomed

    The Independent View

    The prime minister’s welfare U-turn is to be welcomed

    Editorial
    <p>It is incomprehensible that the government was proposing cuts to disability benefits without concluding their consultations with groups representing disabled people</p>
    <p>Aid help in Kenya</p>
    Voices

    Global aid is about more than money and charity – it helps us all

    <p>Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister’s Questions</p>
    UK Politics

    Have your say: Has Starmer been weakened by Labour’s welfare revolt?

    <p></p>
    The Independent View

    Delaying welfare reform is better than bad welfare reform

    <p>‘While some locals may well be fed up with the fuss surrounding the Bezos/Sanchos wedding, it could be argued that 200 extra people is neither here nor there in a city that welcomes some 30 million tourists each year’</p>
    Voices

    Sorry, Mr Bezos, it’s no wonder you’re not welcome in Venice in June

    <p>‘While some locals may well be fed up with the fuss surrounding the Bezos/Sanchos wedding, it could be argued that 200 extra people is neither here nor there in a city that welcomes some 30 million tourists each year’</p>
    Voices

    Sorry, Mr Bezos, it’s no wonder you’re not welcome in Venice in June

    <p>‘I know politics is said to have sped up, but we have reached that stage five years earlier with Starmer, and the big difference is that most people expect Labour to lose its majority at the next election’</p>
    Voices

    Don’t blame Morgan McSweeney – this welfare mess is Starmer’s fault

    <p>Readers have called for better ventilation, face masks and vaccines</p>
    Health

    ‘We haven’t learned’: Readers despair over UK’s Covid response

    Most commented

    Tax rises ‘very likely’ after Starmer’s £4.5bn benefits U-turns

    313 comments

    Starmer caves in to Labour rebels on welfare cuts with £2bn concessions

    348 comments

    Trump administration slaps down UK after MPs pass assisted dying bill

    324 comments

    Ukraine war live: Russian missile strike kills three amid warning of summer attack

    731 comments
    Join the Conversation

    More Voices

    <p>‘Even some cabinet ministers think privately that Starmer will have to back down, or at the very least postpone next week’s vote to avoid a humiliating defeat’</p>
    Voices

    Facing defeat on welfare cuts, Keir Starmer only has one option

    <p>‘Working people don’t care who flips the table – Trump or Mamdani – as long as someone does’</p>
    Voices

    Zohran Mamdani’s surprise win in New York shows voter hunger for hope

    <p>New York City comptroller Brad Lander was placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on 17 June</p>
    Voices

    Political violence is becoming the new normal of Trump’s America

    <p></p>
    Voices

    The Islamic Republic’s authority is a casualty of its war with Israel

    <p>Labour’s controversial welfare cuts face a significant hurdle at a crunch Commons vote</p>
    UK Politics

    Poll: Do you support Keir Starmer’s welfare reform plans?

    <p>The current first-past-the-post electoral system is in question</p>
    Voices

    Why are Tories suddenly in favour of proportional representation?

    <p></p>
    Voices

    The Islamic Republic’s authority is a casualty of its war with Israel

    <p>Labour’s controversial welfare cuts face a significant hurdle at a crunch Commons vote</p>
    UK Politics

    Poll: Do you support Keir Starmer’s welfare reform plans?

    <p>The current first-past-the-post electoral system is in question</p>
    Voices

    Why are Tories suddenly in favour of proportional representation?

    <p>US president Donald Trump is unhappy with both Iran and Israel, accusing both countries of ceasefire violations</p>
    The Independent View

    Trump’s shaky ceasefire is not the lasting legacy he had in mind

    The Independent View

    Trump’s shaky ceasefire is not the lasting legacy he had in mind

    Editorial
    <p>US president Donald Trump is unhappy with both Iran and Israel, accusing both countries of ceasefire violations</p>
    <p>The Competition & Markets Authority is suggesting a ‘choice screen’ for users, asking whether they want to use Google or an alternative, such as Bing</p>
    Voices

    It’s time you got off Google and used a different search engine

    <p>Keir Starmer and Donald Trump</p>
    Voices

    Why can’t Starmer say if Trump was right or wrong to bomb Iran?

    <p>Should HS2 be finished in full or scaled back?</p>
    Rail Travel

    ‘It’s always been the wrong way round’: Readers split on future of HS2

    <p>Congo is one of the countries that needs aid funding</p>
    Voices

    The stakes could not be higher in this global aid crisis

    <p>Congo is one of the countries that needs aid funding</p>
    Voices

    The stakes could not be higher in this global aid crisis

    <p>Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, US president Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu</p>
    The Independent View

    As Iran teeters, Donald Trump should be careful what he now wishes for

    <p>Prime minister Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves launch the government’s Industrial Strategy at Horiba Mira in Nuneaton</p>
    Voices

    Is Labour’s industrial strategy the moment Britain turned a corner?

    <p>Demonstrators in Tehran, protesting against Israel’s bombing of nuclear, military, and energy facilities</p>
    Voices

    This is a good moment for Israel to stop the war with Iran

    <p>Vice president JD Vance and president Donald Trump on Saturday evening as the US Air Force bombed nuclear sites in Iran</p>
    Voices

    When the US talks regime change, we must be careful what they wish for

    <p>Russian president Vladimir Putin and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi attend a meeting in Moscow</p>
    Voices

    Trump’s gamble in Iran is bad news for the ‘axis of autocracies’

    <p>Around 220,000 people with the ‘greatest need’ are expected to receive Mounjaro through the NHS over the next three years </p>
    Health

    Poll: Should weight loss drugs be widely available on the NHS?

    <p>Keir Starmer and Donald Trump at the G7 summit in Canada</p>
    The Independent View

    The prime minister must refrain from following Donald Trump’s lead

    <p>English wine is having a moment – but it faces challenges, too</p>
    Voices

    English wine is having a moment… so which ones should you try first?

    <p>Banks are huge bureaucracies that can be horribly difficult to deal with</p>
    Voices

    I’m a business journalist – but I’ll never activate my debit card

    <p>Would you throw your dog a birthday party?</p>
    Lifestyle

    ‘Worth every penny’ – or a waste? Readers on expensive dog parties

    <p>The Church of England has yet to announce a replacement for Justin Welby</p>
    Voices

    Do we actually need a new Archbishop of Canterbury?

    Voices

    Do we actually need a new Archbishop of Canterbury?

    Catherine Pepinster
    <p>The Church of England has yet to announce a replacement for Justin Welby</p>
    <p>Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in April</p>
    Voices

    Why allegations of BBC bias on Israel are becoming hard to reconcile

    <p>Doomscrolling can be addictive – and pose serious health risks if done while sitting endlessly on the toilet</p>
    Voices

    My doctor ordered me to stop doomscrolling for medical reasons

    <p>A prison guard walks through a cell area at HMP Berwyn</p>
    The Independent View

    Keir Starmer must end the injustice of indefinite sentences today

    <p>Keir Starmer at the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada, where he was interviewed by Sky News’s Beth Rigby</p>
    Voices

    Keir Starmer accidentally admits his first year has been a failure

    <p>Keir Starmer at the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada, where he was interviewed by Sky News’s Beth Rigby</p>
    Voices

    Keir Starmer accidentally admits his first year has been a failure

    <p>Protesters from a pro-choice group gather outside parliament last week for the vote on decriminalising abortion after 24 weeks</p>
    Voices

    We still need to have difficult conversations about abortion

    <p>Renters have been struggling with a lack of supply </p>
    Voices

    Could Rayner’s squeeze on landlords actually end up hurting renters?

    <p>Would you vote to rejoin the EU in another referendum?</p>
    UK Politics

    Readers on reversing Brexit: From rejoining ‘tomorrow’ to ‘pipe dream’

    <p>Keir Starmer in the Downing Street garden</p>
    Voices

    Whitehall isn’t working – here’s how the PM can fix it

    <p>US president Donald Trump speaks to the press at the White House on Wednesday</p>
    Voices

    The most dangerous battle facing Trump isn’t in Iran

    <p>Right-to-die campaigners celebrate a historic vote outside parliament</p>
    The Independent View

    MPs voting to legalise assisted dying is a momentous day for choice

    <p>The EU/UK delegation of foreign secretaries in Geneva: from left, France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kalla </p>
    Voices

    What’s the point of the UK talking to Tehran? More than you think…

    <p>Kim Leadbeater MP in the Commons on Friday at the third reading of her assisted dying bill</p>
    Voices

    My husband wanted to go to Dignitas… a right to die wouldn’t stop him

    <p>Poll of the day: Do you support the assisted dying bill?</p>
    UK Politics

    Poll: Do you support the assisted dying bill?

    <p>More than 10 million of us were signed off work last year due to illness – depression or anxiety was a factor in half of those cases</p>
    Voices

    I know what it’s like to have anxiety – it’s anything but ‘ordinary’

    <p>Plumbers ummed and ahhed over the issue</p>
    Voices

    Of course my water stopped working during a heatwave

    Voices

    Of course my water stopped working during a heatwave

    Frieda Hughes
    <p>Plumbers ummed and ahhed over the issue</p>
    <p>Donald Trump and Keir Starmer at the G7 summit</p>
    The Independent View

    Keir Starmer must refuse to follow Donald Trump into war on Iran

    <p>Donald Trump and Keir Starmer at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada </p>
    Voices

    Can Starmer afford to join Trump in an open-ended war?

    <p>Chancelllor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves</p>
    Voices

    Don’t panic, chancellor – there’s still hope for interest rate cuts

    <p>A stray dog in Essaouira, Morocco</p>
    Voices

    Why I’ll never pet stray dogs on holiday again

    <p>A stray dog in Essaouira, Morocco</p>
    Voices

    Why I’ll never pet stray dogs on holiday again

    <p>Stuart Feather, in drag, is pushed into a police van during a 1971 protest by the Gay Liberation Front</p>
    Voices

    It’s time every police force atoned for its homophobic witch hunts 

    <p>Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall will spearhead changes to the UK’s welfare system </p>
    Home News

    The human cost of disability cuts: ‘I feel like an expensive pet’

    <p>‘It doesn’t matter how efficient your grocer is, or how aggressively they reduce the costs they can cut; that number is simply too big for them to absorb’</p>
    Voices

    Who’s to blame for food price hikes – supermarkets or Rachel Reeves?

    <p>A Professional Standards Authority report has found that the Nursing and Midwifery Council allowed 350 underqualified or fraudulently qualified nurses to work in the UK</p>
    The Independent View

    Repeated failings by the nursing regulator demand a new approach

    <p>Protesters from pro-choice group Abortion Rights outside parliament, where MPs were given a free vote on the decriminalisation of abortion</p>
    Voices

    The new abortion law reforms are welcome – but don’t go far enough

    <p>Chancellor Rachel Reeves at a meeting of top City bankers</p>
    Voices

    Rachel Reeves cannot afford to lose any more non-doms

    <p>Should HS2 be finished in full or scaled back?</p>
    Rail Travel

    Is HS2 worth completing, or just a £66bn mistake?

    <p>Baroness Casey 'fairly sure' that grooming gangs are 'still happening today'</p>
    Voices

    Class-based prejudice allowed grooming gangs to get away with it

    <p>The NHS advises people who think they have Covid to stay at home</p>
    Health

    Have your say: Did we learn the right lessons from the Covid pandemic?

    <p>Deputy prime minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner is fronting the government’s plans for 1.5 million new homes by 2029</p>
    Voices

    Can I fix the housing crisis? Yes, I can…

    <p>US president Donald Trump departed the G7 conference in Canada a day early for ‘big stuff’</p>
    The Independent View

    Instead of ending wars, ‘America First’ is being dragged into them

    The Independent View

    Instead of ending wars, ‘America First’ is being dragged into them

    Editorial
    <p>US president Donald Trump departed the G7 conference in Canada a day early for ‘big stuff’</p>
    <p>Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has argued that human rights laws could block the removal of sex offenders from the UK</p>
    Voices

    The tide has turned against the European Convention on Human Rights

    <p>New Rightmove data shows asking prices in London and the South East are being slashed</p>
    Voices

    What do you have to do to sell your home in a property downturn?

    <p>‘So close have the pair apparently become that Starmer felt comfortable enough to address the US president by his first name only’</p>
    Voices

    Is the ‘big, beautiful deal’ the start of a big, beautiful friendship?

    <p>Joel Mordi and Amanda Kamanda are walking 2,500 miles across London's 32 boroughs</p>
    Voices

    Why I am walking backwards in every London borough

    <p>Joel Mordi and Amanda Kamanda are walking 2,500 miles across London's 32 boroughs</p>
    Voices

    Why I am walking backwards in every London borough

    <p>Trump left the G7 meeting in Canada early, but made absolutely clear that it had nothing to do with the crisis in the Middle East – it was something ‘far greater’</p>
    Voices

    This is what the world looks like when America is weak

    <p>Home secretary Yvette Cooper has launched a full statutory inquiry into historic grooming cases</p>
    The Independent View

    ‘Grooming gangs’ victims deserve justice – and at last they may get it

    <p>‘Anti-abortion ideologues are growing further emboldened and better funded here in Britain’</p>
    Voices

    Why it’s never been more important to decriminalise abortion

    <p></p>
    Business Comment

    The end of WFH teaches us an important lesson about bad bosses

    <p>If Donald Trump wants some vengeance for the reportedly minor damage to the American embassy in Tel Aviv following overnight strikes in a residential area, then he can leave that to Benjamin Netanyahu (BiBi) to take care of.</p>
    Voices

    Is the Israel-Iran conflict really the start of world war three?

    <p>‘It’s usually men who make it an issue’: Readers on height in dating</p>
    Love & Sex

    ‘It’s usually men who make it an issue’: Readers on height in dating

    <p>‘We can feel devastated – and then we can do something. These stories are heartbreaking – but motivating. They reveal the power of compassionate and effective action’</p>
    Voices

    From Uganda to Ukraine, children pay the price of a failure of empathy

    <p>‘The point is that the NHS can be changed in a single parliament. The challenges are different now, and so are the technologies. But the principles are the same: more money accompanied by devolution of power to successful managers and aligning staff incentives with the interests of patients’</p>
    Voices

    Rachel Reeves has bet all our money on Wes Streeting saving the NHS

    <p>‘It’s usually men who make it an issue’: Readers on height in dating</p>
    Love & Sex

    ‘It’s usually men who make it an issue’: Readers on height in dating

    <p>‘We can feel devastated – and then we can do something. These stories are heartbreaking – but motivating. They reveal the power of compassionate and effective action’</p>
    Voices

    From Uganda to Ukraine, children pay the price of a failure of empathy

    <p>‘The point is that the NHS can be changed in a single parliament. The challenges are different now, and so are the technologies. But the principles are the same: more money accompanied by devolution of power to successful managers and aligning staff incentives with the interests of patients’</p>
    Voices

    Rachel Reeves has bet all our money on Wes Streeting saving the NHS

    <p>Damaged buildings are seen following a strike by an Iranian missile in the Israeli city of Bat Yam </p>
    The Independent View

    The UK must exercise all its leverage to de-escalate the Middle East

    <p>‘Trump may still have a fleeting opportunity to play the peacemaker he claims to be. But this will also require Trump to apply the sort of pressure on Israel that no US president has done in recent years’</p>
    Voices

    What’s happening in the Middle East is result of Trump’s carelessness

    <p>I hope to create data showing that our services are not doing everything that they promise regarding work practices within the organisations, resulting in good staff leaving and bad ones staying</p>
    Voices

    As a Met Police whistleblower, these are the horror stories I’ve heard

    <p>‘The new, disabled dad bod inevitably complicated things. I never used to mind my kids jumping on me before. But Dad 2.0 was apt to scream loudly when this happened’</p>
    Voices

    What Father’s Day is really like as a disabled dad

    <p>It will take weeks to accurately assess the extent of the damage that Israel has inflicted on Iran’s nuclear programme</p>
    Voices

    Why Israel’s attack on Iran proves Netanyahu is an unhinged messiah

    <p>‘On his arrival at the resort in the Canadian Rockies, Sir Keir will be walking a tightrope. Let us hope that he is as successful as he has been up to now’</p>
    The Independent View

    Keir Starmer’s challenge in dealing with the G6 plus 1

    <p>‘Bordeaux’s image as a traditional wine-making region is changing’</p>
    Voices

    How ‘boring Bordeaux’ is having a wine renaissance

    <p>Jim Broadbent visited Morocco with his wife in 2006</p>
    Voices

    Jim Broadbent: My life-changing trip to visit donkeys in Morocco

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