Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jump to content
Sign up to our newsletters
Independent
More
Voices
Best
TV

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Voices

<p>Prime minister Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign after a series of political scandals</p>
Chris Blackhurst

Keir Starmer’s dizzying fall shows the UK is now becoming ungovernable

The Mandelson appointment and subsequent resignations have shaken confidence in the prime minister, but the problem runs much deeper – the slow erosion of confidence in public life has left our once great nation in a perilous place, says Chris Blackhurst

<p>The former Duke of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, spent a decade as a UK trade envoy</p>
Alexander Larman

Will trade emails, not the Epstein scandal, finish off Air Miles Andy?

<p>Team GB’s Bruce Mouat in the curling, which is a hit at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics</p>
Jonathan Wells

Curling is not boring – it’s my surprise Winter Olympics obsession

<p>Jimmy Lai, who is due to be sentenced for sedition by the Chinese authorities</p>
The Independent View

Powers that believe in democracy should rally to Jimmy Lai’s cause

Sales of magnesium for children are up 296% year-on-year (Alamy/PA)
Charlotte Cripps

Help! My children’s supplements are bankrupting me

<p>‘I am not sure if even then I completely believed Jackson was wholly innocent, but being honest, I think I chose to look the other way because the music was just too good’</p>
Sarfraz Manzoor

My nine-year-old son loves Michael Jackson. How do I get him to stop?

<p>Many Americans thought it was unthinkable that a US president could be as aggressive as Donald Trump has been</p>
Melissa Allin

As an American, I just want to say sorry

<p>Any teenager who can endlessly scroll without limits is going to be put into a situation where trouble or harm is more likely</p>
George Deanus

I’m 14 years old – please don’t take my TikTok away

<p>Soldiers block access for Palestinians to an area for harvesting olives in the West Bank</p>
Rt Revd Graham Usher

In the West Bank, this nightmare for Palestinians needs ending

<p>Matthew Goodwin, on the election stump with Reform leader Nigel Farage</p>
Sean O’Grady

Is Matthew Goodwin too rabid even for Reform?

<p>Reform UK leader Nigel Farage with US president Donald Trump</p>
Praful Nargund

Farage’s friendship with Trump is becoming his biggest vulnerability

<p>Keir Starmer has one highly risky trick up his sleeve that would likely silence his Labour critics</p>
John Rentoul

Will Keir Starmer use his nuclear option to try to cling to office?

<p>Government officials are looking to attract more ethnic minorities to live in and visit the British countryside</p>
Mary-Ann Ochota

Is the UK countryside racist? In parts of it... yes

<p>Keir Starmer has made lapses of judgement but that does not mean he should resign </p>
The Independent View

Keir Starmer showed poor judgement, but talk of change is premature

<p>Fireworks explode in the sky to bring in the New Year around the London Eye and the Elizabeth Tower</p>
John Rentoul

Refurbishing the Palace of Westminster would revive ‘can-do’ Britain

<p>Georgina Fuller and her son Eddie at Legoland Dubai</p>
Georgina Fuller

Why shouldn’t my autistic son ‘skip the queue’ at Alton Towers?

The theme park group that also owns Legoland and Chessington World of Adventures has introduced new rules that ban visitors with ADHD and anxiety from claiming disability access rights at the attractions – and it’s simply not fair, says Georgina Fuller

<p>Prime minister Keir Starmer addresses the Mandelson scandal</p>
John Rentoul

What is keeping Keir Starmer in place is the lack of a successor

<p>Frieda Hughes’ new car</p>
Frieda Hughes

After years of lusting, I can afford my dream car... albeit secondhand

Explore news for you

More Voices

<p>Margot Robbie stars in Emerald Fennell’s hotly anticipated Wuthering Heights adaptation</p>
Books

Readers on Wuthering Heights: a ‘masterpiece’ films rarely capture

Books

Readers on Wuthering Heights: a ‘masterpiece’ films rarely capture

Independent
<p>Margot Robbie stars in Emerald Fennell’s hotly anticipated Wuthering Heights adaptation</p>
<p>Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, has taken responsibility for recommending Peter Mandelson to be the UK’s ambassador to Washington </p>
Voices

McSweeney’s departure pushes Starmer a step closer to the exit

<p>Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor</p>
Voices

The Epstein crisis has exposed rotten state of the UK’s constitution

<p>Given the prime minister’s ethics adviser found that Angela Rayner ‘had acted with integrity’, her allies believe that she could, in time, make a Cabinet comeback and win a leadership contest</p>
Voices

Is Angela Rayner really ready to march on Starmer’s Westminster?

<p>A screen displayed in a cryptocurrency exchange office in Hong Kong features an image of US president Donald Trump holding cryptocurrency coins, 12 March 2025</p>
Voices

The great crypto-crash has just begun – and it’s going to get worse

<p>A screen displayed in a cryptocurrency exchange office in Hong Kong features an image of US president Donald Trump holding cryptocurrency coins, 12 March 2025</p>
Voices

The great crypto-crash has just begun – and it’s going to get worse

<p>Sir Elton John is appearing alongside his husband David Furnish in a High Court trial against the Daily Mail’s publisher</p>
Voices

Hopping mad, Sgt Elton John spat bullets in the witness box

<p>‘Keir Starmer’s defence of his part in the Epstein/Mandelson affair was a weak mix of claimed ignorance and realpolitik’ </p>
Voices

I’m appalled at how easily powerful men ignore what Epstein did

Most commented

Trump blasts US Olympic skier as a ‘real Loser’ after ‘not biggest fan’ diss

117 comments

Sadiq Khan says his ‘ultimate goal’ is to reverse Brexit

157 comments

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Suspect detained in Putin general shooting in Dubai

198 comments

Starmer latest: Cabinet ministers rally around PM after calls for his resignation

620 comments
Join the Conversation

More Voices

<p>There can be few who are undaunted by the prospect of leaving college with debts running into the tens of thousands of pounds</p>
The Independent View

It’s time the student loans system was abolished

<p>‘Mandelson via Epstein was serving not the UK, but the other side. Not the Russians, the usual foe, but the banks’</p>
Voices

Epstein was in effect a secret member of the British cabinet

<p>A photograph appearing to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor crouched over an unidentified woman which has been released in the latest disclosure of files linked to Jeffrey Epstein</p>
Voices

Why do I feel like the only man outraged by the Epstein files?

<p>Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meet in Alaska, 2025</p>
Voices

Don’t panic! The end of New Start won’t trigger a new arms race… yet

The Independent View

If a miserable Starmer is to survive, he must show leadership

<p>King Charles (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)</p>
Voices

A personal design for life, according to King Charles

<p>Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meet in Alaska, 2025</p>
Voices

Don’t panic! The end of New Start won’t trigger a new arms race… yet

The Independent View

If a miserable Starmer is to survive, he must show leadership

<p>King Charles (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)</p>
Voices

A personal design for life, according to King Charles

<p>Morgan McSweeney, here with Keir Starmer, has a lot to answer for – but so does his boss</p>
Voices

If I were Morgan McSweeney, I’d fear being knifed by Starmer

Voices

If I were Morgan McSweeney, I’d fear being knifed by Starmer

Paul Holden
<p>Morgan McSweeney, here with Keir Starmer, has a lot to answer for – but so does his boss</p>
<p>The newsreader Jan Leeming complained that noisy children had ruined the lunch she’d paid for</p>
Voices

The only thing worse than children in restaurants is other adults

<p>Angela Rayner shocked observers by siding with the Tories</p>
UK Politics

‘Starmer has to go’: Readers on Mandelson files and Labour infighting

<p>Ofcom has launched new guidance for technology firms on the steps they should take to keep women safe online</p>
Voices

I can’t believe what a nasty troll said to me online

<p>Christine Keeler, the party girl who played a central role in the Profumo affair, outside Marylebone Court, where in 1963 she was tried for perjury and conspiring to obstruct the course of justice</p>
Voices

Epstein will go down as an even bigger scandal than the Profumo affair

<p>Christine Keeler, the party girl who played a central role in the Profumo affair, outside Marylebone Court, where in 1963 she was tried for perjury and conspiring to obstruct the course of justice</p>
Voices

Epstein will go down as an even bigger scandal than the Profumo affair

The Independent View

Keir Starmer cannot afford to break his promise of transparency

<p>There has been a rapid adoption of GLP-1 medication</p>
Health

‘Thin isn’t everything’: Readers on living with Ozempic side effects

<p>‘Bateman’s knee-jerk response of, essentially, “You just haven’t met the right guy yet!” when presented with a grown woman declaring that she’d rather stay child-free, remains frustratingly predictable’</p>
Voices

Men! Stop telling childfree women they ‘haven’t found the right guy’

<p>‘Only a few hours after the release of the latest damning Epstein files, which shared further unsavoury details of his antics, Andrew was photographed on horseback in Windsor, looking as if he owned the place’</p>
Voices

Andrew’s exile to Marsh Farm is the punishment he deserves

<p>Peter Mandelson, here announcing his resignation from government in 2004, is implicated in the Epstein files</p>
Voices

Mandelson affair shows the UK has become prone to moles and grifters

<p>The Bear features a chaotic family (PA/Disney)</p>
Voices

A friend has dropped me because of an argument between our kids

<p>Peter Mandelson has offered an apology to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein</p>
The Independent View

Mandelson’s fate now intertwined with that of the Labour government

<p>Some couples had spent tens of thousands on a single day</p>
Love & Sex

‘No need to waste thousands on one day’: Readers on no-fuss weddings

<p>Peter Mandelson was brought back in by Keir Starmer as ambassador to Washington, which seemed a gamble even at the time</p>
Voices

Epstein’s ‘dog muck’ is a smell that Labour can’t wash off

<p>Peter Mandelson’s instinctive reaction to each of his many downfalls has been: ‘How do I get out of this one?’</p>
Voices

Mandelson clearly thinks scandal is for little people

<p>The experience of being a doctor in the 1970s is very different to nowadays</p>
Voices

I woke up in hospital – now I know why resident doctors are on strike

Voices

I woke up in hospital – now I know why resident doctors are on strike

John Cullimore
<p>The experience of being a doctor in the 1970s is very different to nowadays</p>
<p>Sarah Ferguson with her daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice</p>
Voices

Will Fergie’s disgrace now bring down Beatrice and Eugenie?

<p>Peter Mandelson has resigned from Labour to spare the party ‘further embarrassment’</p>
The Independent View

Mandelson must hand in his title and face up to Congress

<p>A picture from the ‘Epstein Files’ which appears to show Lord Mandelson in his underwear speaking to an unknown person wearing a bathrobe</p>
Voices

Of course Peter Mandelson deserves to be thrown out of the Lords

<p>Albert Besnard’s painting Peace and Justice hangs above the door to the Peace Palace in The Hague</p>
Voices

If the ICJ fails the Rohingya, international law will be weakened

<p>Albert Besnard’s painting Peace and Justice hangs above the door to the Peace Palace in The Hague</p>
Voices

If the ICJ fails the Rohingya, international law will be weakened

<p>‘The women in these photographs are living with permanent consequences. They will never see the justice they deserve’</p>
Voices

It is time for Andrew to come clean about everything he knows

<p>Donald Trump blows a gold whistle to start the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll</p>
Voices

Is Donald Trump wreaking havoc with the price of gold?

<p>After Scott, left, lost his identical twin Brian, he entered a unique grief ‘focused on loss of the future and my identity’ </p>
Voices

I have never known fear and pain like losing my identical twin

<p>My very first thought when I saw the images, with all of their stark intimacy of detail (the former prince’s bare feet, the casual polo shirt, the hand resting on the stomach of the unknown young woman), is that it feels like a violation</p>
Voices

All women will recognise the same thing in the latest Epstein photos

<p>Federal agents grab a woman and drag her away from her car, days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis</p>
Voices

Trump’s ICE crackdown is on pause… but not for long

<p>Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is standing defiant in Iran<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/ali-khamenei"></a></p>
The Independent View

Trump must proceed with caution on Iran

<p>Plumber Hannah Spencer, 34, has been selected as the Green Party’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election</p>
Voices

The next election could be Reform vs Green… and nothing in between

<p>Five years of revolutionary struggle have demonstrated that though the junta can massacre whole communities, it will never extinguish a people’s thirst for freedom, justice and dignity</p>
Voices

After five years of murder, it is time for a radical rethink on Burma

<p>Julia Roberts visits an independent bookshop in the film ‘Notting Hill’</p>
Voices

Bookshops offer more than books – so why aren’t they prized like pubs?

<p>Haroon Ahmed's IPP sentence was quashed after judges ruled it was not justified </p>
The Independent View

One man’s struggle lights up a wider scandal

<p>The case at the High Court on who could swim at Hampstead Heath ladies’ pond found that trans women should be welcome</p>
Voices

I am thrilled that trans women can swim in Hampstead ladies’ pond

Voices

I am thrilled that trans women can swim in Hampstead ladies’ pond

Olivia Petter
<p>The case at the High Court on who could swim at Hampstead Heath ladies’ pond found that trans women should be welcome</p>
<p>Keir Starmer on his trip to China</p>
Voices

‘Never Here’ Keir’s trip to China is not the cause of his problems

<p>Shabana Mahmood’s rush to scrap PCCs, as part of her wider policing overhaul, instead of reforming them, looks less like a quest for efficiency and more like a masterclass in political manoeuvring</p>
Voices

Trust me, we’ll miss police and crime commissioners when they’re gone

<p>President Donald Trump waves as he walks from Marine One after at the White House, Jan 27, 2026</p>
Voices

Trump’s a bully – but even he’s running scared of ICE snatch squads

<p>During an experiment, students preferred an AI article over one written by a human</p>
Voices

The author, me vs ChatGPT – why do young people prefer AI’s writing?

<p>During an experiment, students preferred an AI article over one written by a human</p>
Voices

The author, me vs ChatGPT – why do young people prefer AI’s writing?

<p>Elon Musk at the World Economic Forum in Davos</p>
Voices

Musk and Bezos have given Starmer a worrying glimpse of the AI future

<p>Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage visits Gorton and Denton with candidate Matt Goodwin</p>
Voices

Why Matt Goodwin isn’t the Reform winner Farage thinks he is

<p>The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, pictured in 2019, is part of a ‘massive armada’ that has arrived in the Middle East</p>
Voices

As Iranians, we cannot witness these crimes and remain silent

<p>The prime minister believes he is not returning from China empty-handed</p>
The Independent View

Starmer has a fragile China success – now he must handle it with care

<p>A regime humiliated abroad is striking out at its own people</p>
Voices

In Iran, no one can breathe in this atmosphere of fear

<p>Charlotte with her golden retriever, Muggles</p>
Voices

I’m sick of outrageous vets fees – it’s time for an ‘NHS for pets’

<p>Lloyds constantly tells us it is ‘backing the British economy’ to which the obvious riposte is ‘prove it’</p>
Voices

Do Lloyds bank’s rosy figures show the UK is about to boom?

<p>Farage’s recruits may have frontline experience, but they are giving Reform an image problem and confusing their supporters</p>
Voices

Welcome to Reform, Nigel Farage’s crumbling care home for old Tories

<p>‘It still accelerates faster than a cougar’</p>
Voices

Where my old car’s concerned, familiarity breeds contentment

<p>Readers are increasingly turning their backs on dreams of US travel</p>
Americas

‘I won’t go near Trump’s America’: Why tourists are ditching US trips

<p>‘Just after Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech, YouGov found that support for nationalising water had risen to 82 per cent from 59 per cent in 2017, more even than backing nationalising the rail or energy sectors’</p>
Voices

Think January’s bad for bills? Just wait until ‘awful’ April ...

Voices

Think January’s bad for bills? Just wait until ‘awful’ April ...

James Moore
<p>‘Just after Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech, YouGov found that support for nationalising water had risen to 82 per cent from 59 per cent in 2017, more even than backing nationalising the rail or energy sectors’</p>
<p>Donald Trump has said ‘a massive armada’ led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is heading to Iran</p>
Voices

Is Iran heading for its ‘Venezuela moment’?

<p>In opposition, Labour gave the Waspi women the impression that they would be helped</p>
The Independent View

Yet another stinging betrayal for the Waspi women

<p>Harry Styles fans have criticised the cost of tickets for his latest tour</p>
Music

‘A week’s wages for a ticket’: Readers fume over soaring tour prices

<p>Martin Lewis, Britain’s auxiliary chancellor of the Exchequer, was right to give Rachel Reeves both barrels</p>
Voices

Everyone can see student loans are unfair. Except the chancellor

<p>Martin Lewis, Britain’s auxiliary chancellor of the Exchequer, was right to give Rachel Reeves both barrels</p>
Voices

Everyone can see student loans are unfair. Except the chancellor

<p>Kemi Badenoch: ‘By channelling her inner Nigerian, Kemi has signalled she wants to win</p>
Voices

At last… Kemi Badenoch has embraced her inner Nigerian!

<p>Starmer knew last summer that he was already fighting for his political life</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer is too cowardly to do the right thing on welfare

<p>Julianne Moore in ‘Still Alice’</p>
Voices

Dear Vix: I want to go and see my dying mum – but my dad won’t let me

<p>‘China will at some point become the world’s biggest economy. Not engaging would be a case of Britain cutting off its nose to spite its face, one of those rare fields in which it leads the world’</p>
Voices

From Cool Britannia to Cringe: Starmer shows what he’s selling China

<p>Donald Trump with his ‘steely-eyed Slovenian-born glamazon’, Melania</p>
Voices

If ‘Melania’ flops, Donald Trump will get the blame

<p>Vera Baird, chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission</p>
The Independent View

At last, a turning point in the bid to end indefinite detentions

<p>More than 6,000 people have been killed in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests </p>
Voices

Iran’s dead pile up in the streets – so why has the West been silent?

<p>‘Starmer can hardly be criticised for following the King of Spain, the President of France and the Prime Minister of Finland on the path of homage to Beijing. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will not be far behind’</p>
Voices

Starmer must juggle China’s ‘red emperor’ with America’s orange one

<p>Vera Baird, chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission</p>
The Independent View

At last, a turning point in the bid to end indefinite detentions

<p>More than 6,000 people have been killed in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests </p>
Voices

Iran’s dead pile up in the streets – so why has the West been silent?

<p>‘Starmer can hardly be criticised for following the King of Spain, the President of France and the Prime Minister of Finland on the path of homage to Beijing. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will not be far behind’</p>
Voices

Starmer must juggle China’s ‘red emperor’ with America’s orange one

<p>Sir Keir Starmer, as seen on the screen of a smartphone that’s made in China (PA)</p>
Voices

The PM is right – supporting British business in China is a smart move

<p>‘You have never met my father, but if he were with you now, he would tell you that silence in the face of injustice is a form of complicity’</p>
Voices

My message to Sir Keir: Free my father Jimmy Lai before it is too late

<p>Pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai was found guilty in Hong Kong of collusion with foreign forces, as well as conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications</p>
Voices

My father Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment isn’t justice – Britain must act

<p>Liverpool’s waterfront, including the Liver Building </p>
Lifestyle

‘Liverpool is wonderful’: Readers on swapping London for other cities

<p>Keir Starmer and Xi Jinping at G20 in 2024, as the two leaders prepare to meet again this week</p>
The Independent View

The perils and promise of Sir Keir’s visit to China

<p>Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election</p>
Voices

I have not seen Labour turn on itself like this since the 1970s

<p>The RAF F-35B Lightning jet, on the flight deck of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, is part of an ageing defence system</p>
Voices

America is the unreliable partner the UK really needs to worry about

<p>Bruising on the president’s hand has been subject to frenzied debate</p>
Voices

Saying Trump may have Alzheimer’s is no way to bring him down

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in