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Voices

<p>Much of the Church Commissioners’ land is in fact in a dire ecological state – it’s time for them to do better </p>
Chris Packham

If ‘God is green’, the Church needs to move fast to save the planet

This week I’m launching a new campaign with the rewilding movement Wild Card, calling on the church to rewild 30 per cent of their land by 2030, writes Chris Packham

<p>The justice secretary’s department does not even have the basic tools of information that it needs to start to repair the criminal justice system </p>
The Independent View

How can Mahmood clear the courts backlog without knowing the numbers?

<p>The numbers likely to beg Johnson to return to parliament to save the nation are dwindling</p>
John Rentoul

Hasn’t Boris Johnson done enough damage to the Tory party?

<p>Donald Trump backs Netanyahu’s preference for targeting Iran’s nuclear projects and its oil exports</p>
Mark Almond

Why Netanyahu might want to swing the US election for Trump

<p>‘Black History for Every Day of the Year’ is a new book written and illustrated by David Olusoga and his siblings Kemi and Yinka</p>
David Olusoga

How bus drivers helped make Britain more inclusive for Black people

REINO UNIDO-MAURICIO-ISLAS CHAGOS
chris blackhurst

The four BIG personalities swamping the Chagos row...

<p>Although every pregnancy is different, my levels of compassion for pregnant people has considerably increased since going through it myself</p>
Lizzie Romain

I’m a pregnant midwife – here’s what I now realise I was getting wrong

<p>Noah is basically the ideal man – but what about the show’s Jewish women? </p>
Olivia Petter

Nobody Wants This is sexist and disrespectful to Jewish women like me

<p>No-one could seriously argue that Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland caused ‘excessive damage or inconvenience’ by throwing a bit of soup</p>
Alan Rusbridger

Locking up peaceful protesters is the mark of broken justice system

<p>Freddie Flintoff will replace Jim Bowen as the show’s host</p>
Ryan Coogan

Not even Freddie Flintoff can hit the target with a Bullseye reboot

<p>Ed Miliband, Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer visit Teesside, which will host a ‘cluster’ to capture and store carbon emissions from energy, industry and hydrogen production</p>
Ed Miliband

Finally, Britain has entered the ‘clean energy’ age

<p>Chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised to open the investment floodgates </p>
james moore

Why is Labour promising billions when the country is broke?

<p>Leadership contenders (from left) Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat</p>
Emily Sheffield

I know who should win the Tory leadership… and who actually will

<p>As Dame Esther puts it so directly, there is a strong element of bodily autonomy and personal choice that underlies her cause</p>
The Independent View

Esther Rantzen should see her assisted dying campaign come to pass

<p>I find it deeply upsetting that these smokers take so little care of their own health while accessing free NHS treatment </p>
Letters

As a cancer patient, we need to do more to stop smoking near hospitals

<p>Netanyahu’s belligerent speech to the United Nations last week led diplomats to ask whether he was preparing the ground for an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities</p>
bronwen maddox

As he pursues a fight on five fronts, does Netanyahu even want peace?

<p>Laura Kuenssberg meets with Boris Johnson in 2021</p>
ryan coogan

Laura Kuenssberg’s Boris Johnson gaffe was bad – but these are worse

The BBC journalist accidentally sent the former PM her notes: cue, cancelled interview. And Ryan Coogan has a few confessions of his own…

<p>I am stumped to a halt in the company of people / Only ever seen on Zoom</p>
FRIEDA HUGHES

How to talk to strangers (and turn them into friends)

<p>The prime minister has said that long-term sickness claimants must get back to work</p>
Andrew Grice

Starmer is right to grasp the nettle of benefits reform

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More Voices

<p>Britain is giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean in return for securing the long-term future of a strategically important military base</p>
Letters

Returning the Chagos Islands will right a historic wrong

Letters

Returning the Chagos Islands will right a historic wrong

Letters
<p>Britain is giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean in return for securing the long-term future of a strategically important military base</p>
<p>The United Kingdom has no business exerting ‘sovereignty’ on tiny specks of land in the middle of the Indian Ocean </p>
Voices

Now the Chagos islands have been returned, are the Falklands next?

<p>Laura Kuenssberg meets with Boris Johnson in 2021</p>
Voices

Laura Kuenssberg’s Boris Johnson gaffe was bad – but these are worse

<p>Mind less: ‘We’re too quick to classify folk these days, and ought to be more accepting that everybody is different’</p>
Letters

Neurodivergence is not a personality trait that needs ‘curing’

<p>Most of Johnson’s premiership stands as a warning to his successors</p>
The Independent View

Boris Johnson’s low moral standards are a warning to Keir Starmer

<p>Most of Johnson’s premiership stands as a warning to his successors</p>
The Independent View

Boris Johnson’s low moral standards are a warning to Keir Starmer

<p>Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has said interest rate cuts could become ‘a bit more aggressive’, sparking sharp falls in the value of the pound</p>
Voices

Bailey hints at faster rate cuts but oil prices could spoil the party

<p>Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets on 1 October after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles </p>
Voices

Rockets, missiles, Iron Dome: who calls the shots in the Middle East?

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Dozens killed after Israeli missiles hit mosque in central Gaza - live

447 comments

‘Two-faced’ Boris Johnson attacked by Amber Rudd over ‘untruths’ in memoir

202 comments

Two-year-old child among four migrants to die while attempting to cross Channel

184 comments

Hasn’t Boris Johnson done enough damage to the Tory party?

109 comments
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More Voices

<p>Israeli strikes on Beirut have turned part of the city to rubble </p>
Voices

I’ve advised two Israeli PMs – and I’m scared of the current conflict

<p>Starmer has balanced strong support for the Israeli people and their democracy with an insistence that their government must respect international law</p>
The Independent View

Keir Starmer is right to stand with Israel while calling for peace

<p>Nigel Farage, who co-founded the Brexit Party in 2018, which became Reform UK in 2021</p>
Letters

Brexit Britain is broken – here’s how the government can fix it

<p>‘Finally, it was the climax of the week, the chance to pose on stage like an actual leader with an audience of 1,900 and show their real selves’ </p>
Voices

‘Let’s be normal’ is now the rallying cry from a desperate Tory party

<p>JD Vance and Tim Walz faced off in the vice-presidential debate</p>
Voices

Will JD Vance’s debate performance swing the pendulum back to Trump?

<p>Keir Starmer with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as he attempts to reset Britain’s relationship with the EU</p>
Voices

Want a ‘reset’ with the EU, PM? Here’s how you could pull it off…

<p>‘Finally, it was the climax of the week, the chance to pose on stage like an actual leader with an audience of 1,900 and show their real selves’ </p>
Voices

‘Let’s be normal’ is now the rallying cry from a desperate Tory party

<p>JD Vance and Tim Walz faced off in the vice-presidential debate</p>
Voices

Will JD Vance’s debate performance swing the pendulum back to Trump?

<p>Keir Starmer with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as he attempts to reset Britain’s relationship with the EU</p>
Voices

Want a ‘reset’ with the EU, PM? Here’s how you could pull it off…

<p>JD Vance, left, and Tim Walz shake hands before the – relatively polite – hostilites began </p>
US politics

JD Vance proved exactly who he is at that debate: Trump, but slicker

US politics

JD Vance proved exactly who he is at that debate: Trump, but slicker

Richard Hall
<p>JD Vance, left, and Tim Walz shake hands before the – relatively polite – hostilites began </p>
<p> ‘Common sense’ is just one of those terms that people use to make themselves feel better about their own inadequacies, but it doesn’t really mean anything… right?</p>
Voices

I realised something shocking after taking this viral personality test

<p>Conservative Party leadership contenders Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch</p>
The Independent View

A toxic tinge of Trumpism has infected the Tories in Birmingham

<p>Servers’ tips are being legally protected under a new law</p>
Voices

Tipping is now legally protected – instead, it should be banned

<p>At a campaign event in Pennsylvania this weekend, Donald Trump seemed to support a ‘Purge’-style temporary lifting of laws governing police powers</p>
Voices

This might be Donald Trump’s most dangerous speech yet

<p>At a campaign event in Pennsylvania this weekend, Donald Trump seemed to support a ‘Purge’-style temporary lifting of laws governing police powers</p>
Voices

This might be Donald Trump’s most dangerous speech yet

<p>Adding VAT to private medical bills will stop many elderly people from seeking urgent healthcare </p>
Letters

Elderly patients like me have no choice but go private

<p>Women take selfies by a mural of Hassan Nasrallah</p>
Voices

Will the Iranian people finally rise up in a ‘Persian autumn’?

<p>‘Although Asheville was my home for five years and many of my loved ones still live in the area, I was watching all the destruction play out online, from my flat in London’ </p>
Voices

After Hurricane Helene the places I loved look like they never existed

<p>We love this season more than any other, we really do – because it’s for everyone. And if you’re a <em>Gilmore Girls </em>fan, then you probably love it even more than that...</p>
Voices

It’s October, it’s autumn – and that only means one thing

<p>‘Landing on the dockside right next to the evacuees, the three of us were turfed out and our places swiftly taken by the most seriously injured who were stretchered on board’ </p>
Voices

I saw terrified Britons flee Lebanon in 2006 – will it happen again?

<p>Jesse Norman: ‘Is it racist to say that recent levels of immigration have made it harder to see a doctor?’ </p>
Voices

Tories must prove they work for the public good – or face oblivion

<p>The 655-acre site of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has officially closed</p>
Voices

Britain was built on coal… but we should be glad that era ends today

<p>Having failed in his political and military objectives in Gaza, the Israeli leader has now opened up multiple new fronts against his nation’s enemies</p>
The Independent View

Iran does not want war with Israel – but what of Benjamin Netanyahu?

<p>Cash bashing: Why should I be disadvantaged for using cash, rather than a contactless credit card?</p>
Letters

Coining it: businesses must stop playing fast and loose with our cash

<p>We’re still feeling the effects of Trussonomics – but it’s not her fault, alright? </p>
Voices

Truss tried to play the blame game, but guess what – she blew that too

<p>The kids are (not) alright: more and more students seem to be turning away from introductory university traditions </p>
Voices

Lighten up, Gen Z! Don’t give up on Freshers’ Week…

Voices

Lighten up, Gen Z! Don’t give up on Freshers’ Week…

Emma Clarke
<p>The kids are (not) alright: more and more students seem to be turning away from introductory university traditions </p>
<p>Maternity pay is less than half of the national minimum wage – but many businesses think it’s too steep</p>
Voices

New mothers like me should be grateful to Kemi Badenoch

<p>Johnson only demonstrates how deeply unsuited he was to the post he occupied </p>
Voices

Unleashed? No, it’s more like Boris: Unashamed

<p>MP Rosie Duffield has resigned the Labour whip</p>
Voices

Why Rosie Duffield was never a good fit for Labour anyway

<p>Just Stop Oil in persisting to ‘soup’ famous paintings like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers will just lead to airport-type security at galleries</p>
Letters

Just Stop Oil’s tactics will only alienate people

<p>Just Stop Oil in persisting to ‘soup’ famous paintings like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers will just lead to airport-type security at galleries</p>
Letters

Just Stop Oil’s tactics will only alienate people

<p>It is the responsibility of the opposition to call the government to account</p>
The Independent View

The UK is in desperate need of an effective opposition

<p>I adore kids, but I know my limitations</p>
Voices

Did my undiagnosed ADHD make me reluctant to have kids?

<p>Christmas is around the corner, but it needn’t be stressful </p>
Voices

How to ease Christmas spending stress

<p>Jeremy Clarkson’s new pub, The Farmer’s Dog, prides itself on its selection of English wines </p>
Voices

I never thought I’d say this – but I admire Jeremy Clarkson

<p>Prince Harry meets with Boris Johnson on the day the former PM claims he was asked to convince the duke not to leave the UK </p>
Voices

A ‘manly pep talk’ from Boris Johnson would make anyone leave Britain

<p>Moo Deng and Pesto the Penguin have taken the internet by storm </p>
Voices

Moo Deng and Pesto Penguin are the antidote to our existential terror

<p>Boris Johnson, who promoted freeports while prime minister </p>
Voices

How the big Tory idea for Brexit success turned into failure

<p>Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday</p>
The Independent View

The killing of Hezbollah’s leader will make Israel no safer

<p>Elon Musk posted comments about the UK on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter</p>
Letters

The UK can manage perfectly well without Elon Musk

<p>Alice Webb died after a suspected ‘cosmetic procedure’</p>
Voices

Our obsession with beauty is becoming fatal

<p>This U-turn suggests that the chancellor is prepared to put the national interest before dogma</p>
Voices

Is this the moment that Rachel Reeves put ‘what works’ before dogma?

Voices

Is this the moment that Rachel Reeves put ‘what works’ before dogma?

John Rentoul
<p>This U-turn suggests that the chancellor is prepared to put the national interest before dogma</p>
<p>IPP prisoner James Lawrence, 38, has served almost 18 years for an eight-month jail term</p>
Voices

IPP sentences are a stain on the UK – we must do something about them

<p>James Corden has struggled with binge eating, as I did</p>
Voices

Like James Corden, I also had to give up taking Ozempic – here’s why

<p>Hassan Nasrallah had become a hate figure for Israelis – a modern Hitler hiding in his bunker</p>
Voices

Has the death of Hezbollah’s leader brought Israel closer to victory?

<p>Upon its release in the 1980s, ‘Howard the Duck’ was a critical and commercial failure – but has found a new audience with cinemagoers even less impressed by today’s Hollywood offerings </p>
Voices

Could ‘classic’ box-office flops save Hollywood?

<p>Upon its release in the 1980s, ‘Howard the Duck’ was a critical and commercial failure – but has found a new audience with cinemagoers even less impressed by today’s Hollywood offerings </p>
Voices

Could ‘classic’ box-office flops save Hollywood?

<p>Phillip Schofield will tell his ‘story of survival – both on a desert island and off it’ in Channel 5’s ‘Cast Away’ </p>
Voices

Phillip Schofield’s TV return is not illegal… but it is unwise

<p>Labour is a party, once again, concerned with balancing economic efficiency and social justice</p>
The Independent View

Starmer’s pragmatism is proving to be the best way to govern

<p>The success or failure of their new leader will have a big influence on the future course of British politics</p>
Voices

The Tories are adrift in the political wilderness – can they recover?

<p>Donald Trump at a campaign rally </p>
Voices

Voters may be better off with Kamala – but dream of being like Trump

<p>Labour’s so-called ‘left-wing voices’ have been blasted</p>
Voices

Do I really have a ‘left-wing voice’ – and do you?

<p>‘When I worked as a bingo caller, the amount of smoke in the hall was horrendous’ </p>
Letters

Wes Streeting’s smoking ban could have saved me

<p>‘She’s unable to harness her thoughts as her body goes into full flight mode, so we help her figure out what bags she needs, what documents to take, hiding all this from her child’ </p>
Voices

How I helped my friend escape an abusive relationship

<p>I am reading The Bell Jar again. / Last time I was sixteen</p>
Voices

What The Bell Jar tells me about my mother, Sylvia Plath

<p>Sir Keir Starmer will host the International Investment Summit on October 14 (Leon Neal/PA)</p>
UK Politics

Readers say Starmer needs ‘time and space to clean out the Tories’

<p>Former British prime minister Theresa May speaks in New York </p>
The Independent View

Green investment can aid Britain’s economy. We must listen to Lady May

<p>Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon have brought the region closer to all-out conflict than it has been for many years</p>
Voices

The Middle East is close to all-out war – but there is a path to peace

Voices

The Middle East is close to all-out war – but there is a path to peace

Mary Dejevsky
<p>Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon have brought the region closer to all-out conflict than it has been for many years</p>
<p>Keir Starmer recorded a Covid-era broadcast from what appears to be a property owned by Labour donor Waheed Alli</p>
Voices

The hounding of Keir Starmer is what the right-wing media wants

<p>The former WWE boss has been accused of rape and human trafficking </p>
Voices

The Vince McMahon allegations are wrestling’s #MeToo moment

<p>‘The RSPCA misleads consumers that animals can be farmed without cruelty’ </p>
Letters

The RSPCA’s anti-cruelty food labels are a disgrace

<p>Michael Gove has been appointed editor of the Spectator</p>
Voices

What does the future of The Spectator look like with Gove at the helm?

<p>Michael Gove has been appointed editor of the Spectator</p>
Voices

What does the future of The Spectator look like with Gove at the helm?

<p>So popular is British content that 85 per cent of our creators’ watch time comes from overseas </p>
Voices

Really want to kickstart the economy, prime minister? Ask YouTubers

The Independent View

As the clouds of war gather, the forces for peace must be strengthened

<p>A prototype of the controversial Sarco ‘suicide pod’, which allows the occupant to end their life</p>
Letters

We deserve to have a say in how we die

<p>‘If you haven’t had a school dinner in a while, here’s what you need to know: they actually aren’t terrible’ </p>
Voices

Banning schools from serving meat is a recipe for disaster

<p>The health secretary Wes Streeting warned against ‘killing the NHS with kindness’ </p>
Voices

The NHS saved my life twice. Now it feels like it’s trying to kill me

<p>Unbossed: according to a new survey, some 52 per cent of Gen Z admit to not wanting to advance into management roles </p>
Voices

‘Conscious unbossing’, a Gen Z buzzphrase we can all get onboard with

<p>Keir Starmer’s speech was strong enough to regain some ground and steady Labour’s ship after the damaging headlines about freebies and Downing Street infighting </p>
Voices

Starmer’s speech finally gave us a reason to commit to the struggle

<p>Justin Bieber was subjected to all manner of inappropriate behaviour as a young teen </p>
Voices

Justin Bieber was failed time and again – he deserves an apology

<p>Unbossed: according to a new survey, some 52 per cent of Gen Z admit to not wanting to advance into management roles </p>
Voices

‘Conscious unbossing’, a Gen Z buzzphrase we can all get onboard with

<p>Keir Starmer’s speech was strong enough to regain some ground and steady Labour’s ship after the damaging headlines about freebies and Downing Street infighting </p>
Voices

Starmer’s speech finally gave us a reason to commit to the struggle

<p>Justin Bieber was subjected to all manner of inappropriate behaviour as a young teen </p>
Voices

Justin Bieber was failed time and again – he deserves an apology

<p>The prime minister delivered a good speech – and one that rightly earned him a genuine and long ovation</p>
The Independent View

Starmer set out a realistic vision of a brighter future for Britain

<p>A confident Starmer breezes through his verbal mishap </p>
Voices

Keir made a slip of the tongue – but it was still a banger of a speech

<p>‘Most cleaners are respected for their skills and efficient work’</p>
Letters

We should value cleaners as much as our tradesmen

<p>Almost half (48 per cent) of all parents with children under the age of 18 admit to having a secret savings account</p>
Voices

Why some of us hide our savings from our partner

<p>Elon Musk removing X’s ‘block’ facility sends a particularly sinister message to women</p>
Voices

Has Elon Musk just started a new war on women?

<p>Actor and comedian Stephen Fry now has an Austrian passport </p>
Voices

Stephen Fry has abandoned Britain, so what does that say about Brexit?

<p>Mike and Zara Tindall track their daughter Mia, 10, with an AirTag attached to her shorts – good for them! </p>
Voices

I’m planning to AirTag my kids until they’re at least 18

<p>Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) and Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (R) </p>
UK Politics

How would you rate Keir Starmer’s government so far?

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