3 h. ago Do we ever stop feeling anxious, angry or sad about relationships? Not if my older friends are any guide | Emma Beddington

The generations are more segregated than ever. Yet we have so much in commonI’ve always felt a bit pathetic for not having a proper peer group. In dark moments, it feels like a moral failing and an indictment of my social skills. In kinder moments I recognise it’s also partly a product of being sick and sad at university, then successively too pregnant, too preoccupied with babies and too peripatetic to make or maintain ties. In calmer times, I’ve forged slightly more of a social life, but mostly it’s not made up of my gen X peers, but rather people who are occasionally younger, usually significantly older. Now I’m wondering – am I lucky?This thought was prompted by an Atlantic podcast discussing the demographic moment we’re living in – the usual pyramidal population structure is becoming squarer, with similar numbers of older and younger people – and asking whether we’re making the most of it. The conclusion was we probably aren’t. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Reform UK chairman vows to use 'every instrument of power available' to stop migrants being housed in council areas his party now controls

Reform, led by Nigel Farage, gained more than 600 council seats and took control of 10 local authorities in Thursday's local elections .

Society

5 h. ago Reform will use ‘every instrument’ to resist asylum hotels in areas it runs

Party chairman Zia Yusuf said he was ‘realistic’ about the fact the levers of change at a local level ‘pale in comparison’ to Westminster powers.

Events

5 h. ago Anas Sarwar admits Labour government must go 'further and faster' to counter surge of Nigel Farage's Reform

Anas Sarwar has warned his Labour colleagues at Westminster need to better deliver on election promises to counter the surge of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Politics

5 h. ago Downing Street fury at Farage plot to tie up Starmer government in legal challenges

Exclusive: Reform’s new Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns has revealed that Farage plans to use the party’s control of councils across England to launch a series of legal challenges to block Labour government policy on net zero and housing asylum seekers

Politics

5 h. ago Trump accused of ‘mocking’ Catholics after posting image of himself as pope

US president displays ‘pathological megalomania’ as cardinals gather to elect new leader after death of Pope FrancisDonald Trump has been accused of mocking the election of a new leader of the Catholic church after posting an AI-generated picture of himself as the pope on social media.The image, shared on Friday night on Trump’s Truth Social site and the White House’s official X account, raised eyebrows at the Vatican, which is still in the period of nine days of official mourning after Pope Francis’s funeral on 26 April. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago 10 of the most valuable Matchbox cars you might own, including one sold recently for £3,380

They are loved by children the world over and, thanks to their durability, have been passed down through the generations.

Economics

6 h. ago Kemi Badenoch admits Nigel Farage could become prime minister after Tories’ local elections ‘bloodbath’

The Tory leader was speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg after devastating local elections results, which left one pollster warning she only has 12 months to save her party

Politics

6 h. ago Streeting: Reform UK a ‘real threat’ to Labour and ‘serious opposition force’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Nigel Farage’s party has tapped into the frustration of voters.

Events

6 h. ago Streeting says Reform are real threat and may become Labour’s main rivals

Health secretary asks public to give government time as he calls Farage’s party a ‘serious opposition force’Politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting has said Reform is a real threat and could replace the Conservatives as the main opposition party by the next election, as he urged the public to give Labour the “benefit of the doubt”.The health secretary said Nigel Farage’s party was being treated as a “serious opposition force” after Reform’s success in the local elections, where it narrowly won a byelection from Labour and took 677 council seats, gaining control of 10 councils. Reform took most seats from the Conservatives, who lost 674, while Labour lost 187. Continue reading...

Events

7 h. ago Streeting admits Reform could be main opposition by next election – UK politics live

Health secretary tells Sky News that the party are ‘definitely a threat’ following byelection and council resultsLabour targets international students claiming asylumThe Conservatives will come back from their poor results in the local elections but it will have to be a “slow and steady” effort, party leader Kemi Badenoch has said, PA reports.She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I am sorry to all of those councillors who’ve lost their seat”. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Nigel Farage swipes the Tories 'will never recover' following their local elections wipeout

The Tories lost more than 600 councillors and all 15 of the councils they controlled going into Thursday's contest - among the worst results in the party's history.

Politics

10 h. ago Survival and stoicism: stories of women born before the second world war

Christian Doyle’s series Quietly Getting On focuses on women in their late 80s and 90s, their memories of a wartime childhood and how they live nowAs a way of maintaining contact with my elderly neighbours during the Covid restrictions of 2020, we set up a project where each person held up a card showing the age they felt inside. From their life stories, a new idea formed in my mind.This is a generation of women who had experienced first-hand the impact of war on the domestic front, who had been evacuated to strangers across the country, not seeing their parents for months on end. Maybe these experiences created a different mindset; a resilience and stoicism, where the self is less important than being part of a community. Continue reading...

Events

12 h. ago 'My politics stopped me getting acting roles, now I'm a Reform councillor'

Allan Hopwood was elected as Tameside Council's newest Longdendale representative on April 10

Politics

13 h. ago Nigel Farage 'targeting Scotland next' after election victory

SUNDAY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: The Reform leader said Scotland will be seeing 'a lot more' of him soon.

Politics

16 h. ago MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Could Reform's victory be the spark for an unstoppable new alliance?

While almost every European country has undergone something like a revolution, with new parties and movements, over the years, English voters have remained loyal to two parties.

Politics

17 h. ago Farage: Reform UK has ‘supplanted’ Tories after local elections sweep

The Reform leader said the Conservatives will ‘never recover’.

Politics

18 h. ago Trade union advises staff at newly christened Reform UK councils to sign up after jubilant Nigel Farage promised Trump

Mr Farage warned council staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives to seek 'alternative careers' after his party took control of Durham council.

Politics

18 h. ago LORD BLUNKETT: My plan to rekindle the spirit of the VE Day generation, by getting our lost youngsters in the habit of working

LORD BLUNKETT: As we celebrate the 80th anniversary this week of VE Day, it is worth reflecting on the courage, commitment and resilience of those who made it possible.

Politics

19 h. ago Kemi Badenoch urged to be bold as critics warn she has a year to restore Tory hopes from the 'existential' threat of Reform UK

The Tory leader is lining up a set of proposals, including on sentencing and social media, after criticism she has been too slow to develop policies.

Events