Forgive me for the sparks of rage flying off my keyboard as I write these words, but we need to talk about the Metropolitan Police again. I’m sorry. I know no one is interested. I know we’re bored of this subject. I know there’s a finite amount of attention available when it comes to the issue of protecting women and people are far more interested in how Meghan Markle disgraced herself (or didn't) during the royal mourning period. So there is simply no time left to discuss the fact that Met officers think it’s perfectly fine to joke about rape. And even if there were time, we wouldn’t – because what is there to say? The Met is institutionally misogynistic. We ...

Another day, another damning report on the state of the nation’s maternity services. According to the BBC the Care Quality Commission’s latest statistics demonstrate that more than half of England’s maternity units fail to meet basic safety standards, including a small but not insignificant number which "pose a high risk of avoidable harm". This latest indictment will come as no surprise to anyone who has given birth in England or been even peripherally aware of the maternity crisis that has continued unabated in recent years. For midwives like me, the CQC’s latest figures are unsurprising and deeply frustrating. We have been screaming into what feels like a wilfully ignorant void for years – pushing for change through our unions, writing books, ...

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda is no longer confined to India. Recent violence in Leicester shows divisions between Hindu and Muslim communities are now being exploited by gangs of young men in the UK. Yet Modi is not the only politician with a part to play in the unrest on British streets. UK politicians have themselves exploited such hostilities in local election campaigns over the years. When I was reporting last year on a by-election in Batley and Spen, a west Yorkshire constituency with a big Pakistani population, I found campaigners fairly openly stoking tensions. A Labour campaign source told me to my face that if Muslim voters there didn’t vote Labour, they would be endorsing “lobby fodder ...

Today (21 September), exactly seven months after he made a televised address foreshadowing the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has given another speech to his country doubling down on the war. The Russian president announced a “partial mobilisation”, with the armed forces calling up its reserves, on the spurious ground that they would ensure territorial integrity and protect"people in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine – territories that will hold dubious votes on joining Russia in the coming days. Putin also issued a barely veiled nuclear threat to Ukraine and to the West: “If its territorial integrity is threatened Russia will use all the means at its disposal. This is not a bluff.” Like his address in February, three days before his forces invaded Ukraine, ...

While millions were watching coverage of the Queen's funeral over the long weekend, a different sort of tragedy was unfolding in Leicester, away from the public gaze. After weeks of rising tensions clashes broke out between gangs of Hindu and Muslim men. Police arrested dozens of people. It has also now become an international incident, with the Indian government jumping in. It's not the first time violence has erupted like this, and it won't be the last time, so it's worth paying attention to. First, a brief timeline. The first incidents happened on 28 August after a cricket match between India and Pakistan. Groups of young India fans started roaming Leicester streets chanting "Pakistan murdabad" (death to Pakistan) and assaulted at least ...

It's rare that you will see a magazine on the left defending a billionaire – or should I now say, former billionaire – but we may have to make an exception for Yvon Chouinard. The founder of the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia has always been a self-confessed “reluctant businessman”. Chouinard told the New York Times that his inclusion on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires in 2017 “really, really pissed me off”. And so, he set in motion to give away his fortune to only one recipient: Earth. In a statement released on Wednesday 14 September, the former owner announced he has given away the family business, worth $3bn (£2.6bn). Yet rather than selling the company or taking it public, Chouinard has ...

At moments of great national stress, people take comfort in familiar norms, patterns and traditions.  It is for that reason that the Queue has captured the imagination of Britons everywhere, from those partaking to those observing. It combines the act of queuing, one of the pillars of civilisation that Brits have given the world, with monarchy – another pillar, now fallen across much of the globe, but still standing, steadfastly and defiantly, at the centre of the ruins of this decaying old empire. But though these creaking pillars comfort and support us, it is that sense of decay that pervades. They will likely not stand forever – the day approaches when the monarchy ends, and people spontaneously stop queuing, throwing their civility ...

Editors note: This article was originally published on 8 September 2022 and has been updated in light of recent events. On 15 September, a leaked government report suggested little scientific progress has been made in reducing and predicting the risk of earthquakes caused by fracking. In spite of this, Liz Truss had said her government would lift the ban. There was an outpouring of relief when it finally rained in Britain this summer after a historic drought. But then there was also an outpouring of sewage as water companies struggled to cope with the deluge. Likewise, there is relief today that Liz Truss’s plan to address runaway energy bills includes financial help for those facing extreme fuel poverty this winter. ...