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Voices

<p>Wayne Williams, Leroy Douglas, Abdullahi Suleman, Shaun Anton Lloyd and Joshua McRae are just some of those given IPP sentences</p>
The Independent View

Life in prison for stealing a phone? End this outrage, prime minister

Editorial: The law of open-ended sentencing was abolished 14 years ago, yet it continues to blight lives. Ending IPP injustice for the 2,400 prisoners still in jail is not about being soft on crime – it is about upholding justice itself
<p>US President Donald Trump vowed to end America’s wars</p>
Michael Day

Trump promised to end wars, yet the US acts like a rogue superpower

<p>David Carrick, who received 37 life sentences, was able to join the Met Police despite a history of allegations</p>
Leroy Logan

Message to the Met: predators still serve on your force, lying low

<p>‘Nit Blitz’: Laura (Emily Lloyd-Sani) helping to stop the spread of nits as it sweeps the school in BBC’s ‘Motherland’ in 2021</p>
Charlotte Cripps

Am I being scammed by Big Nits?

<p>How do we teach critical thinking to young children who dismiss history as fake?</p>
Jonathan Margolis

What ‘AI slop’ is really doing to distrusting Gen Alpha kids

<p>Women are leaving the social media platform X due to deepfake sexualisation of their pictures</p>
Olivia Petter

If women quit X over Grok deepfakes, predators win – so I’m staying

<p>Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei</p>
Mark Almond

This Iranian uprising could be as pivotal as the French Revolution

<p>US president Donald Trump said the only constraint to his powers is ‘my own morality, my own mind […] I don’t need international law’</p>
Emir Gürbüz

If the only thing stopping him is his own mind, how far will Trump go?

<p>Iranian forces use teargas to disperse anti-government protesters in the Tehran bazaar</p>
The Independent View

Regime change in Iran would be welcome

<p>The prime minister’s plan to ease the ‘cost of living’ is a familiar policy </p>
John Rentoul

Keir Starmer’s plan for 2026 looks familiar – and risky

<p>A poster mourning Renee Nicole Good is pasted to a light pole near the scene of her shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota</p>
David Lister

Poets are dreamers and idealists: It’s what makes them so dangerous

<p>Elon Musk is under fire after his AI tool Grok was used to ‘digital undress’ photographs of women</p>
Jess Davies

Grok digitally undressed me on X – it’s time Elon Musk was accountable

<p>Sudanese families displaced from El-Fasher reach out as aid workers distribute food supplies</p>
Yvette Cooper

The world must not look away from the horror unfolding in Sudan

<p>Iranian authorities have used tear gas to quell the anti-regime protests that continue to grip the entire country</p>
Vahid Beheshti

I had to flee Iran – now my country is on the brink of freedom

<p>According to research, when drinks units are made slightly smaller, people end up consuming less (Yui Mok/PA)</p>
Rosamund Hall

If a pint puts drivers over the limit, it’s time for smaller measures

<p>Alfonso Ribeiro, Will Smith and Daphne Reid in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' played a dysfunctional family</p>
Dear Vix

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

The Independent’s agony aunt Victoria Richards is here to help. Email dearvix@independent.co.uk for advice on love, work, family and relationships

<p>The City of London prefers greater flexibility over closer ties with the EU</p>
James Moore

The City’s message to Starmer: we move faster without the EU

<p>America the undutiful: ‘Donald Trump’s mass withdrawal from a broad swathe of global diplomacy might be seen as the international counterpart to the Department of Government Efficiency’</p>
Mary Dejevsky

America rarely feels it should abide by international rules

Explore news for you

More Voices

<p>Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran</p>
The Independent View

Trump’s military threats risk sabotaging Iran’s moment of change

The Independent View

Trump’s military threats risk sabotaging Iran’s moment of change

Editorial
<p>Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran</p>
<p>A collage of prisoners jailed using IPP</p>
Voices

Indefinite jail terms are indefensible – why are thousands trapped?

<p>Donald Trump demonstrated last weekend, in the new world order, that ‘international law is for chumps’</p>
Voices

Trump has ushered in a new era of chaos and mindless militarism

<p>Vladimir Putin</p>
Voices

Russia’s shadow war with us is just starting – be ready for trouble

<p>Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader and our preferred coalition PM (PA)</p>
Voices

The surprise winner of the ‘least unpopular’ PM prize? Ed Davey!

<p>Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader and our preferred coalition PM (PA)</p>
Voices

The surprise winner of the ‘least unpopular’ PM prize? Ed Davey!

<p>Many of us will have done our best to erase the memory of her ill-fated 49 days in No 10</p>
Voices

The Liz Truss Show is deeply odd – but prompts this serious question

<p>A domestic owl tests the idea of tundra and returns to the warmth of the kitchen </p>
Voices

The snowy owl who chose the Rayburn

Most commented

Minneapolis ICE shooting live: ‘Hundreds’ of federal agents being sent to Minnesota

1236 comments

Mandelson refuses to apologise to victims over his friendship with Epstein

152 comments

Iran protests latest: Trump briefed on ‘strike options’ as military tightens grip

650 comments

Ukraine war latest: UN to hold emergency meeting over Russian Oreshnik missile attack

950 comments
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More Voices

<p>Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer pictured at the summit </p>
Home News

Have your say: How ready is the UK to send troops to Ukraine?

<p>Voters must wonder what happened to judicious policymaking that Labour once promised</p>
The Independent View

Rachel Reeves’s pub reprieve is nothing for Labour to cheer about

<p>Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis</p>
Voices

ICE killing takes America a step closer to George Orwell’s nightmare

<p>A housing development in Oxfordshire - we need more of these </p>
Voices

Labour’s going to build 1.5 million homes? In their dreams…

<p>Nigel Farage with Reform’s candidate for the 2028 London mayoral race, Laila Cunningham</p>
Voices

Sadiq Khan – and Labour – must see that Reform is no longer a bad joke

<p>Teetotal? Independent readers have been debating plans to lower the alcohol limit for driving</p>
Motoring News

‘Road safety is more than drink-driving’: Readers debate lower limit

<p>A housing development in Oxfordshire - we need more of these </p>
Voices

Labour’s going to build 1.5 million homes? In their dreams…

<p>Nigel Farage with Reform’s candidate for the 2028 London mayoral race, Laila Cunningham</p>
Voices

Sadiq Khan – and Labour – must see that Reform is no longer a bad joke

<p>Teetotal? Independent readers have been debating plans to lower the alcohol limit for driving</p>
Motoring News

‘Road safety is more than drink-driving’: Readers debate lower limit

<p>US president Donald Trump has is discussing options for acquiring Greenland</p>
Voices

What if Trump’s not bluffing about invading Greenland?

Voices

What if Trump’s not bluffing about invading Greenland?

Sean O'Grady
<p>US president Donald Trump has is discussing options for acquiring Greenland</p>
The Independent View

Megaphone diplomacy with Trump only makes things worse for Greenland

<p>Young people not in employment, education or training are paying the price for the national wage increase</p>
Voices

I’ve always backed the minimum wage – but not anymore

<p>Keir pressure: ‘Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves, on either side of the prime minister, looked as if they were wondering whether to resign’</p>
Voices

Badenoch had Starmer on the ropes – so why no knock-out blow?

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

‘Benefits for everybody but us’: Readers on UK’s post-Brexit struggle

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

‘Benefits for everybody but us’: Readers on UK’s post-Brexit struggle

<p>Polls suggest Kemi Badenoch’s Tories – not Starmer’s Labour – are now best placed to dent Reform </p>
Voices

Are the Conservatives now the official opposition to Farage’s Reform?

<p>Jonathan Carley, 65, has been fined £500 after admitting to dressing as a navy admiral without permission</p>
Voices

I’m troubled by the Fake Admiral’s excuses for dressing as a war hero

<p>French president Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Keir Starmer at the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ summit</p>
The Independent View

A divided coalition of the willing is no use to anyone

<p>Health secretary Wes Streeting has hailed the rollout of new NHS online hospitals as ‘everyone wins’</p>
Voices

NHS online hospitals are a good idea – but they can’t save Starmer

<p>The UK’s FTSE 100 has risen above 10,000 points (John Stillwell/PA)</p>
Voices

Does the FTSE 100 breaking the 10,000 barrier mean a prosperous 2026?

<p>The American-born Pope Leo XIV has been a vocal critic of his country’s president, Donald Trump</p>
Voices

The only person who can stop Donald Trump now is Pope Leo

<p>Readers broadly agreed that weight loss is not complicated in theory</p>
Fitness and wellbeing

‘Ban empty calories’: Readers on the UK’s weight loss problem

<p>China’s president Xi Jinping and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro arriving at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China 2023</p>
China

From Caracas to Taiwan: How Venezuela has changed China’s calculations

<p>Keir Starmer is one of the Western leaders who manages to command Donald Trump’s respect and attention</p>
The Independent View

Even after Venezuela, the West must speak softly to Donald Trump

<p>President Nicolas Maduro was captured by Donald Trump’s US Delta Force in his compound in Caracas and extradited to New York on Saturday</p>
Voices

Venezuelans like me are too busy celebrating to worry about Maduro

<p>US president Donald Trump posted over 80 times in the early hours following Nicolas Maduro’s capture</p>
Voices

After Venezuela, does Trump’s social media use hint at what’s next?

Voices

After Venezuela, does Trump’s social media use hint at what’s next?

Sean O'Grady
<p>US president Donald Trump posted over 80 times in the early hours following Nicolas Maduro’s capture</p>
<p>Research shows 20 per cent of Mumsnet users intend to vote Reform UK at the next election, which would put the party ahead of Keir Starmer’s Labour</p>
Voices

If Mumsnet is now backing Reform UK, it’s over for Starmer’s Labour

<p>According to a survey, one in 10 British workers plan to quit their jobs this month </p>
Voices

It’s ‘resignation day’! But don’t quit your job before you read this…

<p>Many argued that Burnham’s appeal stems from his role outside Westminster</p>
UK Politics

‘Burnham is not the answer’: Readers on Labour’s leadership dilemma

<p>US president Donald Trump capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has triggered alarm among some allies</p>
Voices

After Venezuela, it will be even harder to change Donald Trump’s mind

<p>US president Donald Trump capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has triggered alarm among some allies</p>
Voices

After Venezuela, it will be even harder to change Donald Trump’s mind

<p>Keir Starmer was left in the dark over the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela</p>
The Independent View

Starmer’s Venezuela dilemma exposes Britain’s post-Brexit weakness

<p>‘I live in London. I work. I pay taxes. I contribute. I speak, write, explain, justify, contextualise my own grief endlessly so that others might find it comfortable. And yet I remain trapped in a world that demands Palestinians be patient, polite, and silent – even as it excuses the machinery that crushes our lives’</p>
Voices

My new year’s resolution is to hug my parents before they die

<p>The ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march in London went beyond protest and challenged the moral fabric of our society</p>
Voices

Extremism is tearing Britain apart - we should choose hope over hate

<p>‘Trump has announced a policy not of blissful isolationism, as his Maga movement yearned for and expected, but of neo-imperialism. America will not only “run” Venezuela, but make the Venezuelans pay for it from their own oil wealth’</p>
Voices

The people of Venezuela are exchanging one old tyrant for another

<p>Venezuelan president Nicolas Madura was captured in a US-led operation</p>
The Independent View

Trump’s Maduro gamble must be turned to Venezuela’s advantage

<p>’How many national leaders will be tempted to ask themselves why, if the US can mount such unilateral action against a sovereign country in pursuit of what it may justify in terms of its own national security, they should not do the same?’</p>
Voices

How the capture of Nicolas Maduro will upend the global order

<p>Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has been captured during a US operation</p>
Voices

Who is Nicolás Maduro? From Chávez’s heir to Venezuela’s undoing

<p>Nigel Farage has questioned whether the UK would be better off without the OBR</p>
Voices

Scrapping the OBR could be Nigel Farage’s Liz Truss moment

<p>‘Was Alaa wrong to make those remarks? Indisputably. But to somehow suggest that he should therefore have his citizenship revoked is the height of political cynicism’</p>
Voices

The Alaa Abd el-Fattah I know is a humanitarian

<p>Actor Claire Foy says she doesn’t have “authority to discuss or proclaim about anything other than what I do as an actor”</p>
Voices

Claire Foy is right – stars should try philanthropy, not deep speeches

<p>In October, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans that could see the company spend more than $100bn on AI projects this year</p>
Voices

Zuckerberg is taking a huge bet on AI. The results will be spectacular

Voices

Zuckerberg is taking a huge bet on AI. The results will be spectacular

Chris Blackhurst
<p>In October, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans that could see the company spend more than $100bn on AI projects this year</p>
<p>‘We’ll hear a lot about American Exceptionalism over the coming year ahead, but it is exceptionalism for all the wrong reasons’</p>
Voices

Why 2026 is the year Trump and Maga could be in trouble

<p>This most stoic of prime ministers must be wondering what he can do to lift his government and his party out of its unprecedented unpopularity</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer’s promise to deliver should have brought results by now

<p>Nigel Farage was visibly campaigning ahead of the Caerphilly Senedd by-election to spread the party’s plans ahead of the Welsh elections next year</p>
UK Politics

‘Tired of broken promises’: Readers on the rise of Reform in Wales

<p>Frieda Hughes hits the gym</p>
Voices

Pumping iron has the power to lift my spirits

<p>Frieda Hughes hits the gym</p>
Voices

Pumping iron has the power to lift my spirits

<p>Lotte Jeffs has returned to university after a high-flying media career</p>
Voices

Why over-40s like me are quitting careers and heading back to school

<p>People leave flowers in Crans-Montana, the upscale ski resort in southwest Switzerland where 47 people were killed in the New Year’s Day fire</p>
Voices

I use psychics – I’m taking Nostradamus’s 2026 predictions seriously

<p>Protesters march in downtown Tehran, Iran</p>
Voices

Is this the endgame for Iran’s ayatollahs?

<p>‘The close proximity of Christmas to birthday seemed to somehow make both feel less generous. Having two brothers didn’t help. I was once given a left-handed glove for Christmas and the right-hand one for my birthday’</p>
Voices

Winter is the best time to have a birthday. Romance is for the spring

<p>To manage new year anxiety, focus on gentle, realistic goals instead of overwhelming resolutions</p>
Voices

How do I stick to my 2026 resolutions without feeling like a failure?

<p>‘Franz Kafka and Joseph Heller described absurd moral universes of totalitarianism and war that seem a long way from Britain in 2026. Yet there are people in this country, this year, who are trapped in an unjust system as extreme as any in fiction’</p>
The Independent View

The nightmarish catch-22 at the heart of a burning injustice

<p>Over 40 political parties, including the NLD, have been dissolved by the regime and banned from contesting the elections</p>
Voices

The UK must act against Myanmar’s shameful sham election

<p>‘The Queen talked publicly for the first time of her own attack at the hands of a young man on a train when she was just a teenager’</p>
Voices

Queen Camilla’s radical honesty shows the good this monarchy can do

<p>Bingo for the future: 2026 looks set to be filled with fireworks</p>
Voices

On my bingo card for 2026? No alarms and no surprises, please

<p>Making new year’s resolutions often leads to guilt</p>
Voices

New year, same me: my resolution for 2026? Not to make any

<p>Between 2020/21 and 2024/25, almost 1.4 million A&E attendances were for a cough, while 1.2 million sought help for a sore throat</p>
Health

‘Only way to be seen early’: Readers on A&E visits for minor problems

Health

‘Only way to be seen early’: Readers on A&E visits for minor problems

Independent
<p>Between 2020/21 and 2024/25, almost 1.4 million A&E attendances were for a cough, while 1.2 million sought help for a sore throat</p>
<p>‘If anything justified the decision to call a halt, however, it was the history of the appalling project management of a scheme that had become a boondoggle for construction companies and a vast secondary economy of consultants’</p>
The Independent View

The never-ending fiasco of HS2 is a case study in how not to build

<p>‘Putin may be contemplating raising another army of up to one and a half million over two years – and prepared to lose a large part of it’</p>
Voices

The 5 signs Putin is preparing for a bigger war in Europe

<p>’When something happens once, it can be considered unfortunate, but when it happens twice, it looks an awful lot like careless misogyny’</p>
Voices

What the Lionesses’ new year honours list snub tells us about women

<p>The real threat to trust isn’t fake news, it’s the information that spreads without challenge</p>
Voices

Why 2025 was the year trust died

<p>The real threat to trust isn’t fake news, it’s the information that spreads without challenge</p>
Voices

Why 2025 was the year trust died

<p>‘The upset of the year will be Labour doing better than expected in the Scottish parliament elections in May, and the Scottish National Party falling so far short of a majority that the Greens cannot not save them’</p>
Voices

Scandal, folly and surprise: My political predictions for 2026

<p>Frankie says relax: Should you dress up for the airport, or prioritise comfort?</p>
News & Advice

‘Treated like cattle’: Readers reject calls for smarter airport dress

<p>The Reform UK leader’s supporters seek to dismiss his behaviour as, in effect, youthful folly that he has long since put behind him</p>
The Independent View

Even Nigel Farage should welcome fierce scrutiny of his school days

<p>Teachers could follow resident doctors and strike next year unless Labour hikes pay and plugs school funding gaps</p>
Home News

‘A recruitment crisis is coming’: Readers on teacher strike threat

<p>‘Donald Trump seems to assume that Vladimir Putin would want to bask in the glory of a victorious peacemaker, but peace is probably a threat to Putin and his system’</p>
Voices

This ‘drone attack’ shows paranoid Putin will never be a peacemaker

<p>The price of gold will rise to new records in 2026, predicts James Moore</p>
Voices

My 2025 predictions fell short – and six calls for the 2026 economy

<p>‘President Trump, though always upbeat about his own supposed unique diplomatic gifts, no longer even pretends that a truce, let alone a lasting peace settlement, is in sight’</p>
The Independent View

Zelensky can buy Europe 15 years to finally get its act together

<p>Swimming champion Adam Peaty has changed his name on Instagram following his wedding to Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, Holly</p>
Voices

Adam Ramsay Peaty has done the right thing in taking his wife’s name

<p>The price of gold will rise to new records in 2026, predicts James Moore</p>
Voices

My 2025 predictions fell short – and six calls for the 2026 economy

<p>‘President Trump, though always upbeat about his own supposed unique diplomatic gifts, no longer even pretends that a truce, let alone a lasting peace settlement, is in sight’</p>
The Independent View

Zelensky can buy Europe 15 years to finally get its act together

<p>Swimming champion Adam Peaty has changed his name on Instagram following his wedding to Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, Holly</p>
Voices

Adam Ramsay Peaty has done the right thing in taking his wife’s name

<p>’What began as a quirky Soho sandwich shop has curdled into a beige cathedral of culinary capitalism. Nothing tastes of anything. Everything costs too much. And yet the faithful still file in’</p>
Voices

Why 2025 was the year I finally fell out of love with Pret

<p>Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un photographed together in September at an event to commemorate the end of the Second World War</p>
Voices

Five flashpoints that could spark World War Three in 2026

<p>‘My plans did not include peeling swedes and a fruit pudding until 24 hours before the advent calendars had opened their last tiny glitter doors, and the final delivery of seasonal cards had hit the hallway floor’</p>
Voices

Christmas is not for the birds

<p>‘It seems to be the year of the “Get ready with me” video,’ says William Hanson. I do not want to get ready with you. I’d rather be dead. I don’t even want to get ready with myself, let alone anyone else. So these have to stop’</p>
Voices

William Hanson: 5 ways manners changed forever in 2025

<p>Jailbroken’ devices can be packed with illegal streaming apps – and with malware</p>
Lifestyle

‘Rip-off Britain’: Readers clash over rise of illegal streaming

<p>Late-night marking has become a symbol of the pressures driving teachers out of the profession</p>
The Independent View

Market forces, not militancy, are pushing teachers towards strikes

<p>Could the economy be hit by another black swan event?</p>
Business

From AI to Trump, the biggest threats to the economy in 2026

<p>Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in Florida to discuss a peace deal</p>
The Independent View

Zelensky still has cards to play in Trump’s Ukraine poker game

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