3 d. ago Men think they don’t have a biological clock – but postponing fatherhood could stop them having children

Without a time limit on procreation, the pressure is off men when it comes to the question of fatherhood. But does a deadline-free existence hinder, rather than help, when it comes to family planning? Helen Coffey investigates whether procrastination ultimately winds up limiting male fertility choices

Politics

4 d. ago Keir Starmer's muddled politics are reaching their limit. It's time for him to make a choice | Andy Beckett

Veer left or double down on the right? Either way, the prime minister needs to commit and sell it to an impatient electorateAfter less than a year in power, Labour has reached a familiar place. Keir Starmer’s troubled government is at a fork in the road, wondering which direction to follow. With the delivery of its spending review next week after several acrimonious delays, and a Commons vote on its divisive welfare cuts expected later this month, the government’s unity and morale are fragile. The public finances are severely strained, with ever more competing demands, such as for extra defence spending. Though much more energetic than its Tory predecessor, this government often seems opaque, unable to explain its purpose in a compelling way.Many voters and journalists – even more impatient than usual after years of manic politics – are already considering what might replace Starmer’s administration. At barely 20% in the polls, Labour is as unpopular as in its most disliked days und...

Politics

1 week ago In Hong Kong, my daughter was dazzled by futuristic tech – and I glimpsed the world she’ll grow up in | Kojo Koram

When I was young, Britain felt like the apex of global civilisation. But as power migrates to autocracies, our belief in democracy seems complacentA few months ago, I travelled with my six-year-old daughter to Hong Kong. As we made our way out of the airport and boarded a train, we shared a brief moment that gave me pause to reflect on how different her conception of the world will be from the one I grew up with. We sat down on immaculate seats, surrounded by LED screens. She looked around and said: “Wow Daddy, we don’t have trains like this back in London.”As the week wore on, and she pointed out other things that she had never seen back home, her comment about the high-speed train took on a broader resonance. Used to Britain’s strained and crumbling public transport, my little girl had identified how economic power has migrated to a different model of capitalism over the past generation. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Farage abortion plans would have ‘catastrophic consequences for women’

Exclusive: Campaigners have raised concerns about Nigel Farage’s calls for stricter abortion laws

Politics

1 week ago Britain gets new speed limit for first time in two years after 'disgusting waste'

Wrexham County Council has reversed the 20mph limit along certain roads in the region and reinstating a 30mph limit - and frustrated locals think its about time

Politics

1 week ago Warning to UK drivers as town gets new speed limit for 'first time in two years'

The B5605 Wrexham Rd/High Street, in Johnstown and the A525 Bryn-Y-Grog Road have returned to 30mph following public consultation. Local residents have spoken of their frustration at the delays

Events

2 w. ago Economic recovery 'under way' in Britain and set to speed up, says IMF in boost to Chancellor Rachel Reeves

The Washington-based think tank nudged up its growth forecast for the UK this year from 1.1% in April to 1.2%

Economics

2 w. ago Economic recovery 'underway' in Britain and set to speed up, says IMF in boost to Chancellor Rachel Reeves

The Washington-based think tank nudged up its growth forecast for the UK this year from 1.1% in April to 1.2%

Economics

2 w. ago Can you spot the hidden letter in this brain teaser? Only high IQs can in under 13 seconds

People with a high IQ can spot the hidden letter in this puzzling brainteaser with just a 13-second time limit - but it's really quite tricky, and has left plenty of people stumped

Politics

2 w. ago No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit review – an activist’s antidote to despair

Hope is no casual platitude in this inspiring collection of essays; it’s the realistic mindset with which to approach challengesAccording to Rebecca Solnit, a lot of us are suffering from something called moral injury. She describes this as the “deep sense of wrongness” that can infiltrate our lives when we realise we are complicit in something seriously bad.The first time I experienced this in relation to climate change, I was changing my baby’s nappy soon after one of the worst Australian wildfire seasons on record in 2020. The nappy featured a smiling cartoon koala on the front. I immediately recalled the scene of a singed, parched koala being fed water from a plastic bottle by a human as it fled the inferno. A disposable nappy takes up to 500 years to decompose. I felt disgust and despair at the degree of consumption, waste and exploitation that even a modest lifestyle in a high-income country seems to entail. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago The Guardian view on abortion prosecutions: decriminalisation can’t wait | Editorial

The trial of Nicola Packer shows why MPs should seize the opportunity to change the law and safeguard vulnerable women nowThe Crown Prosecution Service has yet to explain why it thought that pursuing a case against Nicola Packer was in the public interest. Thankfully, jurors last week cleared the 45-year-old of illegally terminating her pregnancy. But more than four years of police and criminal proceedings have had a lasting impact on a woman already traumatised by discovering that she was 26 weeks pregnant, not about 10, when she acted. The trial dragged her private life – even her sexual preferences – into the public eye. Understandably, she called it “humiliating”. But it is prosecutors who should feel shame.Ms Packer was prescribed abortion pills in a remote consultation, due to a Covid lockdown. Prosecutors alleged that she deliberately breached the abortion time limit. Jurors believed Ms Packer, who said that she was horrified to realise how advanced her pregnancy was whe...

Events

last month The ultimate spiritual pilgrimage for our times? A trip to a waste management site | Eleanor Margolis

As I stood there, awed by how disgusting and wasteful our species is, I realised that everyone needs to see thisLike all the best things in life, this story starts with an argument about bins. Admittedly, I could do better at recycling. I can try to chalk this up to having read too much about how all our plastic waste ultimately ends up in landfill sites in the poorest parts of south-east Asia. But I’m also lazy and so well-acquainted with cognitive dissonance that I could probably cry over the death scene in Bambi while comforting myself by chowing down on a giant haunch of venison.My partner, Leo, is the total opposite: diligent and principled. Which is why she finally lost it with me for failing to put a plastic yoghurt tub in the recycling. I went on the defensive, citing half-imagined reports about megadumps in the Philippines and inescapable doom. She retaliated by booking us on an educational tour of Southwark Reuse and Recycling Centre.Eleanor Margolis is a columnist for the...

Politics