14 h. ago Partisan X posts boost political polarisation among users, research finds

Study shows small changes to tone of posts in ‘for you’ feed increase unfavourable feelings towards political opponentsSmall changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research has found.A groundbreaking experiment to gauge the potency of Elon Musk’s social platform to increase political division found that when posts expressing anti-democratic attitudes and partisan animosity were boosted, even barely perceptibly, in the feeds of Democrat and Republican supporters there was a large change in their unfavourable feelings towards the other side. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Small changes to ‘for you’ feed on X can rapidly increase political polarisation

Study finds that a week of political content can bring about a shift in views that previously would have taken three yearsSmall changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research has found.A groundbreaking experiment to gauge the potency of Elon Musk’s social platform to increase political division found that when posts expressing anti-democratic attitudes and partisan animosity were boosted, even barely perceptibly, in the feeds of Democrat and Republican supporters there was a large change in their unfavourable feelings towards the other side. Continue reading...

Politics

43 h. ago The rise of 'polite littering': Brits are strategically placing rubbish on window ledges, bushes, and lamp posts because they can't be bothered to find a bin

'Polite litter' is becoming an increasingly common sight on our streets - likely because it's deemed as more socially acceptable, a new study reveals.

Politics

44 h. ago Budget 2025: Fuel duty to increase for first time in 16 years under Rachel Reeves plan

Fuel duty is to be increased for the first time in 16 years, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Politics

53 h. ago Trump team takes ‘America first’ to National Parks and charges foreign visitors three times what citizens pay

The Department for the Interior announced plans for the updated entry fee policies which start on January 1

Politics

6 d. ago Top member of Reeves’ Budget team previously backed plans to hit small businesses

Industry leaders say the government ‘would be out of its mind’ to adopt the proposals

Economics

9 d. ago Asylum changes seek to use children as a weapon, says Labour peer Alf Dubs

Dubs, who was a child refugee, says Shabana Mahmood’s ‘shabby’ plans will increase community tensionsUK politics live – latest updatesThe home secretary is seeking “to use children as a weapon” in her changes to the asylum system, a veteran Labour peer who came to Britain as a child refugee has said.Alf Dubs, who arrived in the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, described Shabana Mahmood’s proposals as “a shabby thing”. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Treasury won’t cut threshold for higher rate income tax, say sources – UK politics live

Fallout continues over budget income tax U-turn, with Treasury saying expected fiscal gap has dropped to £20bnThis is from Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, on the market reaction to the chancellor’s reported budget U-turn.Investors will have 2 broad concerns about news that Chancellor won’t increase income tax rates1. Does it signal less willingness to do politically difficult thingsBritain’s long-term borrowing costs were sent soaring as reports suggested the latest U-turn would leave Rachel Reeves scrambling to fill a gaping black hole in the nation’s finances just two weeks before the 26 November budget.Yields on 30-year UK government bonds, also known as gilts, jumped as much as 14 basis points in early trading, and the yield on 10-year gilts also shot up 12 basis points – rising the most since July. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Streeting says striking doctors ‘extremely irresponsible’ in angry phone

Health secretary unhappy as resident doctors in England have started a five-day strike todayThis is from Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, on the market reaction to the chancellor’s reported budget U-turn.Investors will have 2 broad concerns about news that Chancellor won’t increase income tax rates1. Does it signal less willingness to do politically difficult thingsBritain’s long-term borrowing costs were sent soaring as reports suggested the latest U-turn would leave Rachel Reeves scrambling to fill a gaping black hole in the nation’s finances just two weeks before the 26 November budget.Yields on 30-year UK government bonds, also known as gilts, jumped as much as 14 basis points in early trading, and the yield on 10-year gilts also shot up 12 basis points – rising the most since July. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago In New York, Zohran Mamdani showed how it’s done: ‘identity politics’ can win elections | Nesrine Malik

New York’s newly elected mayor rooted his campaign in the personal while, ironically, exemplifying the tradition of the American ‘melting pot’It is inevitable that too much will be laid on Zohran Mamdani’s head. So large is the vacuum on the left of politics that his victory will occupy an outsized space for progressives beyond New York City. And so, before I lay too much on his head myself, some caveats. New York is a specific place. It has a specific demographic and economic profile. And Mamdani is a man of a specific background, racial, political and religious. But with that out of the way, I think the successful practice of “identity politics” during his campaign offers some universal lessons.I put identity politics in quote marks because the term now means little that is universally agreed upon. Broadly, it has come to mean something derogatory, kind of in the same way that “wokeness” has. It increasingly has negative connotations: a political appeal to race or other markers of...

Politics

2 w. ago SNP minister gives strong signal Scottish Government 'revisiting' income tax hikes under 'nightmare scenario'

Shona Robison has suggested Labour will “pay a very high price” with voters in Scotland if Chancellor Rachel Reeves moves to “actively cut Scotland’s funding by £1bn”.

Politics

2 w. ago Rachel Reeves reveals she's planning to increase income tax at the Budget

The move would break one of Labour’s core manifesto promises in an attempt to close the black hole in public finances Reeves’ government inherited

Economics

3 w. ago John Swinney drops commitment not to increase income tax in Scotland

The First Minister was repeatedly asked about possible tax increases in Holyrood

Politics

3 w. ago Chancellor under rising pressure amid warning UK finance blackhole must be plugged ‘with 2p income tax hike’

Rachel Reeves has given strong indications she will break Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes on “working people” at her Budget on November 26

Events

3 w. ago Camouflage clothing may be having a moment – but in our violent world, is that wise? | Ellie Violet Bramley

Some say it’s just ‘a stylish alternative to denim’, but the politics of who gets to wear military-adjacent garb is increasingly fraughtOn a recent visit to Gaza, Steve Witkoff, the real estate mogul and Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, wore a “camouflage” top. I write “camouflage” in inverted commas because it was blue and, amid the dusty devastation of Gaza, there was nothing about it – or the bumbag he wore with it – that helped Witkoff blend in.It’s an odd paradox that a pattern designed to melt military personnel into their surroundings – the word is derived from the French camoufler, “to disguise” – when worn by certain people, in certain ways, does the opposite. Witkoff being a glaring example.Ellie Violet Bramley is a freelance writer Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Don’t believe everything you see: why Buddhist scepticism is vital in the age of generative AI | Bertin Huynh

Because our senses are so limited and the nature of all things so transient, what we know to be objective reality is a momentary snapshot of the whole pictureMaking sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday lifeThe latest iteration of OpenAI’s video generator, Sora 2, spells troubling times for objective reality. Even before the introduction of generative AI, an increasingly polarised political atmosphere meant we could barely agree on the same set of facts.But for Buddhists, reality has always been something to be sceptical about.Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, while contemplating profoundly the Prajna Paramita, Realised that the Five Skandhas are empty, and thus he was able to overcome all suffering.Form, all the things our sensory organs can smell, taste, see, feel and hear.Feelings that arise when we perceive things.Perception is the lens through which we label things and assign value or worth like bananas are delicious or this article is...

Politics

3 w. ago As populist insurgents take power across the globe, ANDREW NEIL examines the dire plight of the mainstream Right

We live in a political age in which the 'unlikely' increasingly becomes the 'likely', with a rapidity similar to Hemingway's description of going bankrupt - gradually, then suddenly... very suddenly.

Politics