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Voices

<p>‘Put more bluntly, more lives will be lost and pain inflicted needlessly this week than, say, in a month’s time’</p>
Sean O'Grady

I am sick to the back teeth of striking doctors

As frontline NHS doctors walk out again over pay, this time until Christmas, their defence that they are doing more good than harm is increasingly hard to stomach, says Sean O’Grady

<p>We are still a long way from ‘reversing Brexit’, insists Starmer </p>
John Rentoul

Labour’s Erasmus breakthrough shows the way back from Brexit

<p>We are told the government is looking at how changes to the licence fee ‘will impact different household budgets’</p>
James Moore

The BBC’s latest comedy? Giving away TV licences for free

<p>New NHS data shows that births through caesarean section have overtaken ‘natural’ vaginal births for the first time</p>
Eleanor Mills

I worry that so many pregnant women are having caesareans

<p>For the BBC’s squirming to have real meaning, Trump believes, it must be accompanied by dollars, lots of them</p>
Chris Blackhurst

Donald Trump can smell money in his battle with the BBC

<p>‘Treat your workers well and pay them properly and productivity problems start to go away. All of a sudden we’re making up the gap with Germany. Virtue is it’s own reward’</p>
James Moore

Why Taylor Swift is the best boss you never had

<p>An Australian rabbi addresses mourners at a Sydney vigil for victims of the Bondi Beach shootings</p>
Leo Pearlman

I won’t be intimidated by the Bondi attacks into hiding my Jewishness

<p>'Ukraine needs to survive the next months, and the Europeans must step up in the delivery of weaponry, technology and training'</p>
Robert Fox

Ukraine can and will win – if its allies get serious about defence

<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>
Sebastien Lai

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

<p>‘If Trump were my client, I would advise him that this is not the hill to die on – it is a legal cliff edge’</p>
Mark Stephens

How the BBC can fight the $10bn Trump lawsuit… and win

<p>Changing tastes and falling sales has led to the Scotch whisky industry struggles</p>
James Moore

Has the world really lost its thirst for Scotch whisky?

<p>A woman places an Israeli flag over flowers at Sydney’s Bondi Beach following the mass shooting that has claimed 15 lives</p>
Laurence Rees

The Bondi shootings are a new chapter in the history of Jew-hatred

<p>Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of two from Syria, was caught on camera wrestling a gun from a Bondi attacker</p>
Sean O'Grady

After Bondi, don’t hunt for an ‘enemy within’ – honour its hero

<p>‘So few of us outside the high-risk categories bothered to take the necessary precautions that schools are closing, workplaces are thinning out, and family Christmases are being cancelled’</p>
Sean O'Grady

A flunami has divided the UK into ‘have-shots’ and ‘have-nots’

<p>Reform UK leader Nigel Farage now presides over the largest party membership in Britain (Jane Barlow/PA)</p>
John Rentoul

If anyone fails to take Nigel Farage seriously, they must think again

<p>Sir Keir Starmer turns on the Christmas tree lights outside 10 Downing Street</p>
David Walker

The Christmas message is only under attack by ‘rage bait’

However much people try and claim that Christmas is under attack, the reality is nothing of the sort, writes the Bishop of Manchester, David Walker – and it’s time for us to look up to the angels rather than down to the comments

<p>‘The collective strength of the European Union is an obvious obstacle to this American power-grab, and so, in a complete reversal of postwar US policy, Trump wants to dismantle it’</p>
Sean O’Grady

It is time to wake up to a chilling truth – America has switched sides

<p>A watercolour fruit bat from Frieda Hughes' first solo exhibition in 1993</p>
Frieda Hughes

A gift from the past to anchor me in the present

Explore news for you

More Voices

<p>Health secretary Wes Streeting has described the resident doctors’ five-day walkout over pay – after substantial pay rises in recent years – as ‘unreasonable’</p>
The Independent View

Public patience with the striking doctors is running out

The Independent View

Public patience with the striking doctors is running out

Editorial
<p>Health secretary Wes Streeting has described the resident doctors’ five-day walkout over pay – after substantial pay rises in recent years – as ‘unreasonable’</p>
<p>More than 10,000 UK university students participated in the Erasmus+ scheme in 2018 </p>
Brexit

‘Coming to our senses’: Readers on return of EU student exchange

<p>The BBC has handed Trump a moral and legal stick with which to beat it</p>
The Independent View

Let us all stand up for the BBC against Donald Trump

<p>’Between “superflu”, fake news and fatigue, the hospital is on its knees. And the background hum of industrial action makes it harder still’</p>
Voices

Why I’m striking in the middle of a winter flu crisis

<p>The government made the BMA a last-minute offer on Wednesday </p>
Health

‘Doctors are not self-indulgent’: Readers on NHS strike action

<p>The government made the BMA a last-minute offer on Wednesday </p>
Health

‘Doctors are not self-indulgent’: Readers on NHS strike action

<p>Trump has filed a $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC </p>
Home News

‘A self-inflicted situation’: Readers on Trump’s BBC lawsuit

<p>Blaise Metreweli, the new head of Britain’s spy agency MI6, says Vladimir Putin is exporting ‘chaos’</p>
The Independent View

How the West can still win

Most commented

BBC facing legal bill of millions as it vows to defend $10bn Trump defamation case

224 comments

Ukraine war latest: Putin calls European leaders ‘little pigs’ in unhinged rant

197 comments

Urgent review ordered into foreign interference in UK politics

236 comments

UK to rejoin EU student exchange scheme in 2027 as part of Starmer’s Brexit reset

336 comments
Join the Conversation

More Voices

<p>‘Rather than a constructive conversation, it is more like an argument about who is doing more jobs’</p>
Lifestyle

‘I have never been happier’: Readers on life after divorce

<p>Police cordon off an area after the Bondi beach shooting</p>
The Independent View

After the Bondi attack, Jews will wonder where they can feel safe

<p>Iria del Rio and Francesco Carril from ‘The New Years’</p>
Voices

Why is Gen Z so obsessed with the ‘almost relationship’?

<p>A woman holds a child after the shooting at Bondi</p>
Voices

Bondi was my safe haven – now Australia will never be the same

<p>‘I’ve never had cause to regret the investments I’ve made in stocks and shares ISAs. The index trackers I started with were inexpensive, easy to understand, and ultimately (very) rewarding’</p>
Voices

Can banks be trusted to tell us how to get rich by investing?

<p>‘To be clear, Min Aung Hlaing is staging the vote to legitimise his illegitimate rule, rebranding the State Administration Council – the junta – as the civilian State Security and Peace Commission. But a costume change by Myanmar’s top brass into civilian clothes will fool no one’</p>
Voices

What’s the point of the ICC if it won’t give Myanmar justice?

<p>A woman holds a child after the shooting at Bondi</p>
Voices

Bondi was my safe haven – now Australia will never be the same

<p>‘I’ve never had cause to regret the investments I’ve made in stocks and shares ISAs. The index trackers I started with were inexpensive, easy to understand, and ultimately (very) rewarding’</p>
Voices

Can banks be trusted to tell us how to get rich by investing?

<p>‘To be clear, Min Aung Hlaing is staging the vote to legitimise his illegitimate rule, rebranding the State Administration Council – the junta – as the civilian State Security and Peace Commission. But a costume change by Myanmar’s top brass into civilian clothes will fool no one’</p>
Voices

What’s the point of the ICC if it won’t give Myanmar justice?

<p>Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, who is due to unveil a strategy document about how the government will meet its manifesto promise to halve violence against women and girls </p>
The Independent View

This ‘crackdown’ on violence against women must be more than words

The Independent View

This ‘crackdown’ on violence against women must be more than words

Editorial
<p>Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, who is due to unveil a strategy document about how the government will meet its manifesto promise to halve violence against women and girls </p>
<p>Tom Dolphin, chair of the Council of the British Medical Association, is refusing to reconsider the timing of the strike</p>
The Independent View

Dr Dolphin, call off these strikes

<p>‘It's easy to take a pop at forecasters. However, they’re a sideshow when set against Reeves’ delivery or the lack of it’</p>
Voices

Why should we listen to growth forecasters when none get it right?

<p>The Belarusian people do not support this war. Only through the Kremlin’s support and massive repression was Lukashenko able to cling to power</p>
Voices

Any Ukraine peace deal without Belarus risks Russian annexation

<p>‘Kalu’s win is a triumph for her, as well as for the art world and the neurodivergent community’</p>
Voices

Nnena Kalu’s Turner Prize is also a win for our neurodivergent kids

<p>‘Kalu’s win is a triumph for her, as well as for the art world and the neurodivergent community’</p>
Voices

Nnena Kalu’s Turner Prize is also a win for our neurodivergent kids

Voices

Why the King and Prince William need to open the books on their riches

<p>Keir Starmer</p>
Voices

Starmer finally understands the damage of Brexit – and is ready to act

<p>The jailhouse conversion of Robinson was witnessed by another man of God, pastor Rikki Doolan. This is a good place to remind ourselves that anyone can call themselves a ‘pastor’, just as anyone these days can describe themselves as a ‘journalist’ or ‘therapist’</p>
Voices

Why are so many Tommy Robinson supporters turning to Christianity?

<p>Is Keir Starmer like Stanley Baldwin or Neville Chamberlain? I don’t think he is like either of them</p>
Voices

A strong economy is Starmer’s best defence against Putin

<p>The health secretary says over 17 million people have already been vaccinated </p>
Health

‘There were clear warnings’: Readers on the NHS ‘flunami’ crisis

<p>‘The mutant strain has sparked an NHS meltdown with hospitals declaring “critical incidents” and the sick being urged to wear masks if they have to go outside to tackle the wave’</p>
Voices

The ‘flunami’ reduced me to a wreck and sent my family to hospital

<p>‘The US attacks on Venezuela and its interests might be seen as the first example of Trump’s second-term foreign policy in action’</p>
Voices

Today, Venezuela. Tomorrow, anyone else who dares threaten US security

<p>Streeting’s proposal is a clever one – focusing on boosting career opportunities rather than pay. This ought to be attractive to younger doctors while costing the Exchequer comparatively little, compared to the cost of another bumper pay rise</p>
Voices

What will it take to keep resident doctors in work this winter?

<p>‘Streeting would apparently prefer that people just hide what was “wrong” with them and carry on regardless’ </p>
Voices

Wes Streeting is punching down on young people with ADHD

<p>’The deeper we dug, the shakier and more suspicious these stories became, sounding hauntingly like the work of the very Pentagon Task Force we discovered had been set up in 2010 to destroy Assange and his organisation’</p>
Voices

Think you know the Julian Assange story? Think again

<p>Tony Blair did not say ‘This is my candidate’, but make no mistake, he agreed with her</p>
Voices

Everyone can see Shabana Mahmood is the heir to Blair. Even Tony

Voices

Everyone can see Shabana Mahmood is the heir to Blair. Even Tony

John Rentoul
<p>Tony Blair did not say ‘This is my candidate’, but make no mistake, he agreed with her</p>
<p>‘The same right-wing Americans griping that the UK is arresting people for “just tweets”, the same Trump who called these kinds of arrests “sad…it’s not a good thing”. <em>These</em> people want to ban visitors who’ve had a spicy take or two?’</p>
Voices

With tweets like mine, I fear I’m going to be banned from America

<p>The adult content creator’s Spectator piece has all the hallmarks of one of Private Eye’s ‘Me and My Spoon’</p>
Voices

Bonnie Blue and Nigel Farage truly deserve each other

<p>MPs have backed proposals to create a new UK-EU customs union</p>
UK Politics

‘Madness not to’: Why readers back a return to EU customs union

<p>‘I ask, nay, beg, the Badenoch to put herself in the position of young people straight out of university, desperate to feel as though the three-year debt they’ve accrued won’t be a complete waste’</p>
Voices

Sorry Kemi, but why should I take a job I’m overqualified for?

<p>‘I ask, nay, beg, the Badenoch to put herself in the position of young people straight out of university, desperate to feel as though the three-year debt they’ve accrued won’t be a complete waste’</p>
Voices

Sorry Kemi, but why should I take a job I’m overqualified for?

<p>The cast of US reality TV show Selling Sunset (season 5 is pictured here) are known for their explosive arguments at dinner parties</p>
Voices

I’m having friends over for dinner – and I worry they’ll judge me

<p>Few will have much sympathy for someone who travelled to Syria at the age of 15 to engage with the murderous Isis reign of terror</p>
The Independent View

Citizenship scandal is Mahmood’s chance to show courage and clarity

<p>‘No doubt Starmer and Lammy will be accused, again, by rebellious Labour MPs, Lib Dems and Greens, of trying to “out-Farage Farage” with their support for a Europe-wide push to align the ECHR better with public opinion’</p>
Voices

Starmer’s ECHR showdown is his last chance to see off Farage

<p>The UK’s exit from the union – as David Lammy correctly noted – badly damaged its economy. It was an act of self-harm, puncturing the economy’s wheels and wrecking the nation’s fiscal position in the process</p>
Voices

The Brexit do-over that Starmer’s too scared to talk about

<p>‘Thus spake a man who has never stayed at a budget hotel. Also, a man with a word count to fill and only 20 days of prison to fill it with’</p>
Voices

It’s criminal! Sarkozy’s prison diary is 100 per cent pure jambon

<p>Doctor examining woman with ultrasound scanner device</p>
Health

‘We went private instead’: Readers on NHS maternity failings

<p>‘The number of times I’ve had to suggest that, with it being a special occasion, perhaps we could not be looking at Facebook during a family meal? The teenagers know not to, but the phone etiquette of the retired generation is out of control’</p>
Voices

It’s not under-16s who need a social media ban – it’s the over-65s

<p>‘We already know that due to thoughtless planning, lack of space – and basic lack of care – those of us who have miscarried are forced to sit in the same room as those bearing happy grins and clutching printouts of their pregnancy scans’</p>
Voices

I went into labour in a UK hospital ward surrounded by cockroaches

<p>Valerie Amos is leading the national maternity and neonatal investigation</p>
The Independent View

Every woman should feel safe in an NHS maternity ward

<p>It ought to be taken for granted that any half-competent political operation would use social media as well as conventional ones</p>
Voices

Forget the under-16s – will someone please ban TikTok for politicians?

<p>Nationalisation might make some things about getting on a train a bit better, and some a bit worse, but it will not be transformative</p>
Voices

I boycotted the railways for 20 years – are they even worth saving?

Voices

I boycotted the railways for 20 years – are they even worth saving?

Sean O'Grady
<p>Nationalisation might make some things about getting on a train a bit better, and some a bit worse, but it will not be transformative</p>
<p>Young tourists from the UK are leading the surge in Australia’s growing population of working travellers </p>
Lifestyle

‘The UK has little to offer young people’: Readers on Gen Z exodus

<p>Volodymyr Zelensky, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz chat on the Downing Street doorstep after a meeting in central London on Monday</p>
Voices

Putin must be hit with every trick in Britain’s book

<p>‘Netflix’s controlling brains will be only too well aware of just how quickly the media marketplace can change, not least because of the changes they themselves are responsible for’</p>
Voices

Netflix has three huge new problems with its Warner Bros takeover

<p>The triumvirate represents a potentially powerful alliance</p>
The Independent View

Will Europe fight for Ukraine?

<p>The triumvirate represents a potentially powerful alliance</p>
The Independent View

Will Europe fight for Ukraine?

<p>‘In a City speech last month, Farage again repeated his call for the deregulation of crypto. He says Reform has received “a couple” of donations in cryptocurrency but refuses to supply the details’</p>
Voices

Dark money is flooding Nigel Farage’s push for power

<p>What bothers me isn’t Norris himself, who is clearly sincere, but the creeping realisation that sport – men’s sport in particular – has become almost suspiciously wholesome</p>
Voices

Why Gen Z ‘soft boys’ like Lando Norris are replacing alpha males

<p>‘There is no mistaking Trump’s materialism, both on behalf of his country and for himself and his family. He’s a real estate guy who enjoys wealth, almost for its own sake’</p>
Voices

Donald Trump is selling out his allies while he still has time

<p>Syrians marked the anniversary with a weekend of celebrations</p>
Voices

One year on from the fall of Assad, the UK wants Syria to succeed

<p>‘Removing the defendant’s ability to overrule the court’s decision will not only save taxpayers’ money but will drastically reduce the number of cases needlessly clogging up crown courts’</p>
Voices

The court backlog crisis needs bold solutions to put victims first

<p>Mohamed Salah has been named on the bench for Liverpool’s last three matches (Peter Byrne/PA)</p>
Football

‘It’s disgusting’: Fans react to Salah benching row

<p>Keir Starmer is expected to reiterate the UK’s strong support for Ukraine at talks in Downing Street on Monday </p>
The Independent View

European leaders can still help achieve a positive outcome for Ukraine

<p>Christmas fridge with a view: Six in ten GLP-1 users say medication is transforming what a traditional Christmas looks like in the UK</p>
Voices

How Mounjaro has completely changed my Christmas fridge

<p>Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, are reported to be heading to California for Christmas</p>
Voices

Most Americans love the Cotswolds at Christmas – why doesn’t Ellen?

<p>‘Look, Clooney is one thing, but Kelce, who is 36, is another, not least because his partner is one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) artists on the planet’</p>
Voices

Can you truly know your partner if you’ve never argued?

<p>Have you gone too early with your Christmas tree this year?</p>
Lifestyle

Readers divided on when the Christmas tree should go up

Lifestyle

Readers divided on when the Christmas tree should go up

Independent
<p>Have you gone too early with your Christmas tree this year?</p>
<p>Why The Independent’s Christmas appeal matters so much</p>
The Independent View

Give young people a lifeline

<p>The prime minister’s job security is no laughing matter, particularly with threats like Angela Rayner waiting in the wings</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer’s power drains away as talk grows that he won’t last

<p>Liz Truss, whose online show looks ‘extraordinarily cheap’</p>
Voices

The Liz Truss Show - the worst thing to hit YouTube in its 20 years

<p>On 30 October Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor gave the minimum 12 months’ notice that he would surrender Royal Lodge (Jordan Pettitt/PA)</p>
Voices

Andrew’s last Christmas at Royal Lodge – how bad could it be?

<p>On 30 October Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor gave the minimum 12 months’ notice that he would surrender Royal Lodge (Jordan Pettitt/PA)</p>
Voices

Andrew’s last Christmas at Royal Lodge – how bad could it be?

<p>US President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 02, 2025 in Washington, DC</p>
Voices

Donald Trump’s war on drugs is fraught with danger for the president

<p>The depressed permanent employment market was ‘exacerbated by Reeves’s shock hike in employers’ national insurance’ (Frank Augstein/PA)</p>
Comment

What the Budget has really done to the housing market

<p>Last month, Keir Starmer visited the Welland Academy in Peterborough to highlight the government’s free school meal expansion</p>
The Independent View

Labour’s child poverty strategy is a great step forward

<p>Meghan Markle and her father, Thomas, who is in gravely ill in hospital following amputation surgery</p>
Voices

I’m with Meghan – no one should lecture you on dealing with a parent

<p>‘The prospect of national service in some form was proposed by Rishi Sunak before the last election, and occasionally floats back into view’</p>
Voices

Rishi Sunak was right: Britain needs to bring back national service

<p>Nigel Farage has insisted the Thai-based crypto billionaire who gave Reform a record £9m donation “wants nothing from me”</p>
UK Politics

‘Why is this allowed?’ Readers hit out after £9m Reform donation

Voices

All I want for Christmas is... a tractor across two parking spaces

<p>Browder: ‘Anyone who has done business in Russia knows exactly how that ends. You’re welcomed with smiles and contracts; you leave defrauded, ruined or – if you’re unlucky – dead’</p>
Voices

I have spent years waiting for Putin’s assassins to come for me

<p>Nigel Farage has insisted the Thai-based crypto billionaire who gave Reform a record £9m donation “wants nothing from me”</p>
UK Politics

‘Why is this allowed?’ Readers hit out after £9m Reform donation

Voices

All I want for Christmas is... a tractor across two parking spaces

<p>Browder: ‘Anyone who has done business in Russia knows exactly how that ends. You’re welcomed with smiles and contracts; you leave defrauded, ruined or – if you’re unlucky – dead’</p>
Voices

I have spent years waiting for Putin’s assassins to come for me

<p>Keir Starmer and education secretary Bridget Phillipson visiting a primary school breakfast club</p>
Voices

Lifting the two-child benefit cap is laudable – but just a start

<p>Readers slam energy bill hikes</p>
Home News

‘Just watch us get ripped off’: Readers slam energy bill hikes

<p>‘Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Ireland – which is a joint record-holder for the most Eurovision wins – will now boycott the event unless Israel is excluded from the competition over the war in Gaza’</p>
Voices

I’m a fan, but it’s time the UK pulled out of Eurovision

The Independent View

It is unbelievable that so many people are in indefinite detention

<p>Despite evidence of a mental health crisis among men, there’s still a stigma attached to seeking help</p>
Health and Wellbeing

‘Therapy isn’t just about feelings’: Readers on why men fear help

<p>Despite almost four years of tough talk about the Russian threat, countries like Britain have seen their firepower shrink since 2022</p>
Voices

Why a war with Europe has never looked so tempting to Putin

<p>In ‘Nightbitch’, Amy Adams plays an artist who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mum – before her nightly routine takes a surreal and horrifying turn</p>
Voices

Everything in my life seems to have gone wrong at once

<p>‘I’m sad and angry about this choice. That anger would exist even if I didn’t have a child, and even if we weren’t involved with Girlguiding’</p>
Voices

Those banning trans girls from Girlguiding need to look at Brownie Law

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