1 hour ago If you went to state school, do you ever feel British life is rigged against you? Welcome to the 93% Club | Alastair Campbell

The civil service, judiciary and media are still dominated by the privately educated 7%. Lasting change is not a pipe dream – but it’s up to usFor the first time in our history, we have a cabinet made up entirely of people who went to state schools. Several, including prime minister Keir Starmer, come from working-class backgrounds; some, such as deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, were raised in conditions of poverty that feel as if they ought to belong to another age.So far so good. What better signs could one ask for to show that Britain is a meritocracy, social mobility is real and anyone can rise to the top provided they have talent, commitment and determination?Alastair Campbell is a former journalist turned strategist and spokesperson for the Labour party. He is now a writer, podcaster, consultant strategist and mental health campaigner Continue reading...

Society

1 hour ago Loyle Carner: Hopefully! review – rap sweetheart faces family, fear and the feels | Album of the week

(Island EMI)The Londoner’s trademark sentimental sweetness is balanced by a new unaffected singing style – his fourth album is his most impressive work yetLoyle Carner raps like he has a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes. Wonder, nostalgia, love, hurt, excitement, hard-won peace: these are the emotions his voice tends to catch on. When combined with his typically blissed-out sonics – feathery breakbeats, dreamy piano figures, delicate synth washes, gently plucked guitars – the results are often very nice. Sometimes a bit too nice. So it is on Feel at Home, the sentimental love song that opens the 30-year-old’s fourth album, Hopefully!Carner – whose moniker is a spoonerism of his real name, Benjamin Coyle-Larner – never makes music that is boring or basic. As well as the slushy lyrics and comfortingly toasty chords, Feel at Home is buttressed by madly skittering percussion and what sounds like a blurry reproduction of young children’s playground chatter. But much like the outp...

Politics

1 hour ago Jodie Marsh dances with Nigel Farage as he tries to hide face from camera

Jodie Marsh hosted a charity event to support her Fripp Farm Animal Sanctuary earlier this week, and controversial politician Nigel Farage was among the attendees

Events

2 h. ago New Rio de Janeiro law requires public hospitals to display anti

Opponents view the controversial act as part of a growing trend across Brazil to further restrict abortion accessA new law has just come into force in Rio de Janeiro requiring all public hospitals and clinics run by the municipal government to display anti-abortion signs bearing messages such as: “Did you know that the unborn child is discarded as hospital waste?”Reproductive rights activists view the act as the latest example of a growing trend across Brazil to further restrict access to abortion in a country that already has some of the world’s most restrictive laws. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago ‘My son went to get flour. He came back in a coffin’: As the world focuses on Iran Palestinians are being shot dead seeking aid

While the world has its attention fixed on a regional war, desperate Palestinians are being killed by the dozen as they seek food at controversial American-run aid sites in Gaza, write Bel Trew and Richard Hall

Events

3 h. ago Controversial darts star who LICKED Luke Humphries caught in another disgusting act

On the back of a dramatic World Cup, the Players Championship resumed in Leicester this week, with Chris Dobey claiming victory on Tuesday and then Stephen Bunting on Wednesday.

Events

3 h. ago Voices: ‘I feel like an expensive pet’: Independent readers open up on the human cost of disability cuts

Our community says disability benefit cuts will ‘break people,’ leave carers ‘destitute,’ and cause a human cost many say is being ignored

Politics

4 h. ago Amy Poehler admits she ‘misappropriated’ when reflecting on controversial SNL sketches

‘It's very real, and the best thing you can do is make repairs, learn from your mistakes,’ said the star

Politics

6 h. ago ‘He just told me lies to have sex with a teenage girl’: Natalie Fleet MP on grooming, statutory rape and fighting back

At 15, she began seeing an older man and conceived her beloved daughter. It was years before she properly understood it as abuse. Now she is working tirelessly in parliament for other survivorsNatalie Fleet is nervous about this interview. Her assistant has warned me and Fleet tells me several times, before and during. “I just feel sick,” she says. “I don’t know if it’s because it’s about me or because of the subject. It just doesn’t seem to get any easier.”The subject is rape – specifically Fleet’s experience of being groomed by an older man when she was 15, becoming pregnant and having the baby. That daughter, “the love of her life”, is now 24. Since entering parliament last summer as the Labour MP for Bolsover, Fleet has spoken a good deal about rape, her life story and the lack of support for mothers whose children were conceived this way – and each time it upsets her. “My husband said: ‘I don’t want you to be the “rapey MP”,’ and I don’t want that either,” says Fleet. “But it’s...

Events

6 h. ago Acting Rangers academy chief to land job for keeps as Kevin Thelwell reckons he's the man to nurture talent

The long-serving coach has held the position on an interim basis since last year

Politics

10 h. ago Man Utd transfer news: Ruben Amorim wishlist revealed as academy chief joins rival

Manchester United remain in the market for a number of exciting names but sales are a must and Jadon Sancho's reported deal to join Napoli appears complicated by financial hurdles

Politics

12 h. ago Keir Starmer insists assisted dying Bill has not been rushed as dozens of MPs say it should receive more scrutiny

The Prime Minister insisted that plenty of time had been devoted to the controversial plan despite dozens of his MPs pleading for it to receive more scrutiny.

Events

13 h. ago Fifth of academics do not feel free to teach controversial topics, survey shows

The poll was published alongside guidance from England’s higher education watchdog on protecting freedom of speech.

Politics

16 h. ago Pep Guardiola fumes at Rico Lewis red card as Man City make winning start at Club World Cup

Manchester City cruised past Wydad in their opening Club World Cup clash on Wednesday night, but the 2-0 win was dampened by a controversial red card for defender Rico Lewis

Politics

17 h. ago New CDC advisers will skip some expected topics and explore a target of antivaccine activists

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F

Events

18 h. ago Federal Reserve holds interest rates, defying Trump’s demand to lower them

Hours before the decision, the president called the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, ‘stupid’ for anticipated rate holdThe US Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold, but signaled it might make two cuts this year, as Donald Trump continues to break with precedent and demand lower rates.Policymakers at the American central bank lifted their projections for inflation this year, as the US president stands by his controversial tariff plans, and downgraded their estimates for economic growth. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago Nezza's Spanish anthem at Dodger Stadium ignites debate over team's immigrant support

After Latin pop and R&B singer Nezza's viral controversial performance at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers fans have grown frustrated over the team’s lack of vocal support for local immigrant communities impacted by the rise of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and raids

Events

19 h. ago Sabrina Carpenter takes savage swipe at fan comparing her 'oversexed' shoot with controversial Lolita film

Sabrina Carpenter is defending a photo from her September 2024 W magazine spread.

Sport

20 h. ago Air India crash survivor will 'always feel guilty' for not swapping seat with brother

Brit Vishwash Ramesh, feeling significant survivor's guilt following his survival of the Air India plane crash said he believes he could have saved his brother's life

Events

20 h. ago Anthony Joshua coach finally explains controversial ‘roll the dice’ order in Daniel Dubois loss

Joshua was dropped four times by Dubois and stopped in the fifth round in September

Sport