8 h. ago Voices: I learned the power of reading on my grandad’s knee – now I’m passing it on

As both a parent and minister, I know how powerful books can be, writes education secretary Bridget Phillipson. With the launch of a National Year of Reading in 2026, we can make reading not just a school skill, but a family ritual that can shape a child's future

Politics

3 d. ago Fresh scandal hits Spain’s ruling party as official quits over sexual harassment claims

Pressure grows on Pedro Sánchez to call snap election as latest resignation adds to corruption allegationsPedro Sánchez’s efforts to reset Spain’s ruling socialist party after damaging corruption allegations that threatened to topple his coalition government have suffered a severe setback after a party official resigned over accusations of sexual harassment.The prime minister had hoped this weekend’s meeting of the federal committee of his Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) would help the party move past weeks of scandals that have undermined the ethical and anti-corruption pledges on which it came to power seven years ago. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Voices: After Labour’s first year, Starmer could still learn from ‘one

The current prime minister would be wise to study Clement Attlee’s post-war premiership, which also started with a landslide election but, mired in economic uncertainty and internal conflict, quickly ran out of steam, says historian Alun Evans

Politics

6 d. ago Europe’s heatwave moves east as row erupts in France over air conditioning

French far-right leader’s ‘grand plan’ to expand AC comes under attack, while Germany braces for possible record heatThe European heatwave has moved east, threatening record temperatures in Germany, as a political row broke out in France over air conditioning.The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen seized a canvassing opportunity before the 2027 presidential election, announcing she would launch a “grand plan for air conditioning” for the nation if she won power. Continue reading...

Society

8 d. ago Brits urged to stockpile AA batteries in their homes right now

The government runs a website called Prepare.gov.uk which aims to ensure as many households as possible are ready for emergencies such as freak weather, power cuts, major accidents or 'infrastructure failure' as well as attacks

Politics

1 week ago Google’s emissions up 51% as AI electricity demand derails efforts to go green

Increase influenced by datacentre growth, with estimated power required by 2026 equalling that of Japan’sGoogle’s carbon emissions have soared by 51% since 2019 as artificial intelligence hampers the tech company’s efforts to go green.While the corporation has invested in renewable energy and carbon removal technology, it has failed to curb its scope 3 emissions, which are those further down the supply chain, and are in large part influenced by a growth in datacentre capacity required to power artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Suspend UK from oil oversight body over protests crackdown, say campaign groups

Groups question UK membership of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative after actions of successive governmentsA coalition of civil society groups is calling for the UK government to be suspended from a key global body that oversees how oil and gas companies are run.The campaigners say Keir Starmer’s Labour party has overseen a “fossil-fuel sponsored crackdown” on peaceful protest and direct action in the UK since it came to power last year. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Voices: ‘We haven’t learned anything’: Readers despair over UK’s Covid response in 2025

Many of the protections and behaviours that helped us during the pandemic — like staying home when sick, wearing masks, and improving ventilation – have quietly disappeared, say Independent readers

Politics

1 week ago British Business Bank back in the spotlight with £10bn UK growth mandate

Louis Taylor, CEO of state-owned lender, targets investment in eight key UK sectors as he prepares defence at Covid inquiryLouis Taylor is caught between two eras. The chief executive of the British Business Bank (BBB) has spent much of his tenure attempting to revive the state-owned lender’s image after a battering from the fraud-hit pandemic loan scheme under the last government, and will soon have to defend its actions at the Covid inquiry.But until then, he can focus on the BBB’s gleefully landed fresh £10bn mandate linked to the centrepiece industrial strategy Labour hopes will boost a flagging economy as it nears the end of its first year in power. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Big British Bank back in the spotlight with £10bn UK growth mandate

Louis Taylor, CEO of state-owned lender, targets investment in eight key UK sectors as he prepares defence at Covid inquiryLouis Taylor is caught between two eras. The chief executive of the British Business Bank (BBB) has spent much of his tenure attempting to revive the state-owned lender’s image after a battering from the fraud-hit pandemic loan scheme under the last government, and will soon have to defend its actions at the Covid inquiry.But until then, he can focus on the BBB’s gleefully landed fresh £10bn mandate linked to the centrepiece industrial strategy Labour hopes will boost a flagging economy as it nears the end of its first year in power. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago ‘It was unbelievably skilled’: Pope hails Brook after swashbuckling innings

Yorkshireman hits 99 with first Test on knife edge‘He was pretty gutted to get out,’ says England No 3Ollie Pope hailed the ability that the “unbelievably skilled” Harry Brook possesses “to flip a game” after the Yorkshireman’s quickfire 99 helped England to sprint to a total only six runs short of India’s first-innings 471 on day three at Headingley. With India reaching stumps on 90 for two the outcome of the first Test remains beautifully uncertain.“Everyone knows what a fantastic player Harry is, and I think being able to put really skilled bowlers under that much pressure shows exactly the skills he has got,” Pope said. “But it is not just slugging, it is very well thought out. The ability to kind of flip a game – we were saying: ‘Oof, if he bats for another hour here we could be in an amazing position.’ That just shows the kind of skill he’s got, and power. It was unbelievably skilled.” Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Pope commits to weeding out church sexual abuse, praises role of press in democracy

In first public comments on topic, Leo XIV has now signaled zero tolerance for sexual abuser priestsThe Roman Catholic church must “not tolerate any form of abuse”, sexual or otherwise, Pope Leo XIV has said in his first public remarks about the worldwide clerical molestation scandal that has long roiled the church.In a statement read on Friday at the performance of a play which dramatizes the work of a journalist who endured harassment while investigating abuse scandals within a powerful Catholic group, Leo maintained that it was necessary to inculcate “throughout the church a culture of prevention that does not tolerate any form of abuse: abuse of power or authority, of conscience or spirituality, of sexual abuse”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Voices: Angela Rayner must learn lessons from housebuilders if she wants to succeed

The government has big ambitions to build 1.5 million new homes – but for too long the private sector has been viewed with suspicion, writes Chris Blackhurst. It’s time for an urgent re-think

Politics

2 w. ago Voices: Did we learn the right lessons from the Covid pandemic? Join The Independent Debate

As a new Covid variant spreads across the UK, we’re asking: did we learn the right lessons from the pandemic, or are we slipping back into old habits?

Events

2 w. ago Kitchen gods and Chinese opera: views from the diaspora – in pictures

From Greek customs to a Kenyan returning home, this year’s winners of the OpenWalls Spotlight award show how migration shapes our culture – and the power of ancient rituals Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘It’s time to wake up’: Padilla recounts being handcuffed at Noem briefing in emotional speech

California senator details being restrained and warns of how democratic norms can slip away when power is uncheckedAlex Padilla took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to deliver a deeply personal speech, formally entering into the congressional record his account of being restrained and forcibly removed as he attempted to ask a question at a press conference held by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, in Los Angeles last week.In emotional remarks, Padilla described the encounter that he hoped would serve as a “wake up call” for Americans – a warning, he said, of how quickly democratic norms can slip away when dissent is silenced and power is unchecked. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Puppies, ghosts and euphoric snogging: the 25 best queer films of the century so far

From coming-out fables and dancefloor make-outs to unsimulated sex and a madcap maternal quest, here is a feast of movies about LBGTQ+ livesOne detractor called it “a Shawshank Redemption for progressive millennials”. But the force of Céline Sciamma’s lesbian love story about an artist and her unwitting sitter on a remote island in 18th-century Brittany is undeniable. As is the integrity of its central dynamic, stripped of power imbalances, hierarchies – and men. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump’s EPA announces major rollbacks to power plant pollution limits

More than 200 health experts say regulatory proposals will lead to biggest increase in pollution in decadesUS power plants will be allowed to pollute nearby communities and the wider world with more unhealthy air toxins and an unlimited amount of planet-heating gases under new regulatory rollbacks proposed by Donald Trump’s administration, experts warned.The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled a plan on Wednesday that would repeal a landmark climate rule that aims to mostly eliminate greenhouse gases from power plants by the 2030s and would, separately, weaken another regulation that restricts power plants’ release of hazardous air pollutants such as mercury. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘Too many people lost work’: doubts in South Africa’s coal belt over ‘just energy transition’

The country wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions without destroying livelihoods, but progress is slow – and the residents of a small town are in the crosshairsCooling towers and smokestacks still loom over the single-storey houses of Komati, but the winter sky is clear: smoke hasn’t billowed from the vast concrete chimneys of the South African town’s power station since it stopped burning coal in 2022, 61 years after its inauguration.While the state power company Eskom didn’t fire any permanent employees, the end of coal generation and earlier job losses in nearby mines have fuelled doubts in the small town and wider coal belt that there are any benefits to South Africa’s “just energy transition” to renewable power. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘We are just sitting here’: South African coal belt town split over green transition

The country wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions without destroying livelihoods, but progress is slow – and the residents of a small town are in the crosshairsCooling towers and smokestacks still loom over the single-storey houses of Komati, but the winter sky is clear: smoke hasn’t billowed from the vast concrete chimneys of the South African town’s power station since it stopped burning coal in 2022, 61 years after its inauguration.While the state power company Eskom didn’t fire any permanent employees, the end of coal generation and earlier job losses in nearby mines have fuelled doubts in the small town and wider coal belt that there are any benefits to South Africa’s “just energy transition” to renewable power. Continue reading...

Politics