7 h. ago A Mind of My Own by Kathy Burke review – a brilliant, blunt and beautiful memoir

The actor on being called ugly, telling Johnny Rotten to F-off, and striking gold at CannesKathy Burke’s mother, Bridget, died of stomach cancer when she was 18 months old; she writes that it made her “feel dead famous” in her community. She was raised by her older brothers, John and Barry, who were 10 and eight when it happened, and sometimes by their father Pat, an alcoholic for many years, violent with it, who struggled to care for his family. Pat and Bridget had moved to London from Ireland, and the Burkes lived on an estate in Islington, where the other families played a vital role in raising and feeding the children. On his deathbed, in 1994, Pat asked Kathy to do two things: to give up smoking, and to write more. It has only taken her 30 years, she says, but she’s finally done the latter.The entertainment industry is top-heavy with people from middle-and upper-class backgrounds who have a limited understanding of lives that don’t resemble th...

Science

41 h. ago It's always the same story. Dogs bark, ducks quack and Labour hits the middle class with tax rises

Tax rises are a choice - and an extremely unwise choice, given that the private sector is already groaning under the heaviest tax burden since the 1940s.

Events

50 h. ago Middle class foragers are desecrating the countryside by copying influencers who romanticise berry and mushroom picking

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust recently reminded visitors that foraging is strictly not allowed at any of its reserves.

Politics

54 h. ago Rachel Reeves targets GPs and lawyers in £2billion raid on middle classes: Chancellor ignores warnings economy could 'spiral out of control' with new budget plot

With inflation figures this morning expected to bring more gloom, Rachel Reeves yesterday conceded that the economy is 'not working as it should' but attempted to blame Brexit.

Economics

61 h. ago Rachel Reeves targets GPs and lawyers in £2billion raid on middle

With inflation figures this morning expected to bring more gloom, Rachel Reeves yesterday conceded that the economy is 'not working as it should' but attempted to blame Brexit.

Economics

64 h. ago Labour's declaring war on the middle class, says JEFF PRESTRIDGE: This is what I'm doing to shelter myself

Slowly but surely, the Budget jigsaw is taking shape - and we now have a clearer picture of the Chancellor's direction of travel.

Events

3 d. ago Can we keep antibiotics working? Yes, but the world needs to follow the EU and the UK | Devi Sridhar

Unless more countries drastically cut back on antibiotic use in food production, these vital drugs will lose their efficacy for humansWhat we’re putting into our bodies can either nourish us, or make us ill. With that in mind, I wrote recently about the role of food consumption in terms of the risk of colon cancer. But what about food production?Across the world, we are seeing the rise of cheap meat: largely driven by demand from a rising middle class who finally can afford beef, pork and chicken, which used to be out of reach, given their cost. Approximately 45% of global consumption growth is occurring in upper-middle-income countries including China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines. Poultry is set to take an increasingly large share of that growth (projected to grow by 21% by 2034), because it is relatively cheap, widely acceptable and requires fewer resources per kilogram compared with beef or pork. By 2034, it is estimated that poultry will provide 45% of the prote...

Politics

3 d. ago Beef, pork, chicken: the world loves cheap meat. If people knew what really goes in it, that love affair would be over | Devi Sridhar

Antibiotic use in farming is now rampant and you should care about that. How meat is produced in China may mean the drugs you need here won’t workWhat we’re putting into our bodies can either nourish us, or make us ill. With that in mind, I wrote recently about the role of food consumption in terms of the risk of colon cancer. But what about food production?Across the world, we are seeing the rise of cheap meat: largely driven by demand from a rising middle class who finally can afford beef, pork and chicken, which used to be out of reach, given their cost. Approximately 45% of global consumption growth is occurring in upper-middle-income countries including China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines. Poultry is set to take an increasingly large share of that growth (projected to grow by 21% by 2034), because it is relatively cheap, widely acceptable and requires fewer resources per kilogram compared with beef or pork. By 2034, it is estimated that poultry will provide 45% ...

Politics

5 d. ago The rise of Britain's middle class witches: How career women are turning to spells, 'angel cards' and even Chat GPT 'magic' for a happier life

Forget black hats and broomsticks, there's a new, glossy breed of modern witches who say they'd rather reach for spells and sage than more conventional remedies.

Politics

7 d. ago HUGO DUNCAN: Millions of middle class families are in Chancellor's crosshairs

HUGO DUNCAN: Don't be fooled by the Chancellor ruling out a 'wealth tax' on Thursday - even if she quashed hopes among lefty Labour backbenchers of a full-blown attack on the rich.

Society

1 week ago Tax warning as UK households told 'more families will be caught out'

Experts are raising the alarm for middle class families that are unknowingly ‘sleepwalking’ into tax bills

Events

1 week ago UK families told to act as major tax trap awaits warn experts

The tax could soon become a common bill for the middle class, not just the wealthy, as experts raise the alarm

Events

1 week ago 'He's got a big mouth!' Working class locals living on Gary Neville's street hit back at the Man Utd legend for 'angry, middle

Locals in the road where Gary Neville grew up have claimed the outspoken former footballer has a 'big mouth and should do one'.

Events

3 w. ago 'The doctor told me it was a boy. I cried for days': Middle class mothers with  'gender disappointment' will baffle anyone who has longed for a healthy baby

One mother all too familiar with gender disappointment is Chloe, from South London, who runs a parenting blog and has four sons.

Science

3 w. ago Confessions of middle class shoplifters stealing for 'the thrill of it': Affluent university city is seeing a rise in well

Amid rising rates of shoplifting offences across the UK, officers in Cambridge are fighting back only to discover that suspects turn out to be stealing luxury items for fun.

Events

3 w. ago Labour MPs are competing over who had the toughest upbringing as if they're in Monty Python's famed 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch, Cabinet minister admits

Darren Jones said his colleagues try to 'out-poor each other' because most politicians are now middle-class.

Politics

3 w. ago We Americans love remaking British TV. Must the UK remake our odious politicians? | Dave Schilling

A recent trip to Britain from my native California presented some worrying truths about our shared political futureI’ve always wanted to visit the UK. This might sound absurd to you, considering I’m from California – home of sunshine, half-naked bodies and the studio where they film Jeopardy. What could possibly pull me to the cold, damp, gray shores of England? The oppressively brown food? The dodgy colonialist history? Tesco? No, it was the glowing box that vibrated with whatever passed for culture in my small town: television.British TV was an obsession in my house, via those purveyors of affordable, exotic entertainment at PBS. We’d get classy fare through the Masterpiece Theatre series, but also more downmarket comedies like Are You Being Served? (a variety of sexually obsessed retail clerks trip over each other) or Keeping Up Appearances (lower-middle-class oafs desperately wish they were posh). I had no concept of what people were saying in their thick accents or most of the ...

Politics

3 w. ago What went wrong for Emma Bridgewater? After massive losses and staff cuts, experts reveal how pottery brand 'lost its freshness' as Britain's middle class turned to cheap online knock

Dubbed Britain's 'queen of pottery', the Stoke-on-Trent-based eponymous brand, with its trademark lettering and polka dot designs, carved out a niche of twee and quirky homewares.

Economics

last month What went wrong for Wedgwood? Once Britain's most prestigious porcelain loved by the middle class

It once graced the tables of royalty, presidents and popes- for generations, Wedgwood was a symbol of refinement, tradition and impeccable taste but it is now gathering dust

Politics