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    Food bank demand up by half in five years as charity urges Labour to act

    The Trussell Trust has revealed a stark increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed across the UK, with a 51 per cent rise recorded over the past five years.The charity delivered nearly 2.9 million emergency food parcels in the year to March 2025, a significant jump from the 1.9 million distributed in the year to March 2020. This surge has prompted urgent calls for government intervention and a reassessment of welfare reform policies.Trussell has criticised the government’s welfare reforms, labelling them a “harmful” policy choice contributing to the escalating reliance on food banks. The charity also cautioned the Labour party against a potential legacy of increased food bank dependency and child poverty.The data reveals a concerning trend for families, with a 46% increase in emergency food parcels provided to families with children since 2020, and a 32% rise in parcels for children under five.While the latest figures, totalling 2,885,086 parcels, represent a decrease from the previous year’s record high of 3,126,479, the overall five-year trend remains alarmingStocks of food at a foodbank (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

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    David Lammy’s speech in full as UK pauses Israel trade talks

    Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced trade talks with Israel have been paused as he called for an end to the aid blockade in Gaza. In a statement in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Lammy said Israel suffered a “heinous attack” on 7 October 2023 and the UK Government has backed Israel’s right to defend itself, but called the escalation in Gaza “morally unjustifiable”.The measures, including financial restrictions and travel bans, cover prominent settler leader Daniella Weiss and two other individuals, as well as two illegal outposts and two organisations that the Foreign Office said supported, incited and promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. David Lammy has said that Israel’s plan is Gaza is “morally unjustifiable” More

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    Tackle small boats crossings by letting migrants apply for UK asylum from France, think tank suggests

    Britain could reduce the number of people making perilous journeys across the Channel by allowing migrants to apply for asylum from management centres in France, a think tank has proposed. New centres set up outside Calais could allow people to apply for UK asylum or to be reunited with family in Britain. The number of asylum seekers granted sanctuary to the UK would be on a rolling monthly cap, a new report from the Future Governance Forum (FGF) think tank has said, and in return France would take back the equivalent number of migrants who have arrived on UK shores in small boats. The proposals mirror policies enacted by the Biden administration in the US, which allowed people on the Southern border to access pre-arrival processing. Offices were set up in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador to allow migrants to apply to resettle in the US through legal pathways, including by pursuing refugee status. The programme aimed to decrease the number of people making the dangerous crossings at the US-Mexico border. The UK is already in discussions with France on a scheme to return migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats. In return, UK government officials have reportedly floated the idea of accepting migrants seeking reunion with family members already in Britain. The French interior ministry said in April that the pilot scheme would be based on a “one-for-one principle”. This would mean that “for each legal admission under family reunification, there would be a corresponding readmission of undocumented migrants who managed to cross [the Channel]”. An inflatable dinghy carrying around 65 migrants crosses the English Channel on March 06, 2024 in the English Channel. More

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    Watch live: Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs after immigration crackdown backlash

    Watch live as Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs on Wednesday (14 May), as he continues to face criticism for his “island of stranger speech”.The prime minister faced backlash from members of his own party after his speech unveiling the government’s new immigration measures was compared to inflammatory rhetoric used by Enoch Powell in his “rivers of blood” speech.Downing Street was forced to deny the comparison and said Sir Keir “completely rejects” the suggestions he echoed Powell, and stands by his words.“We completely reject that comparison,” the prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters.“The Prime Minister rejects those comparisons and absolutely stands behind the argument he was making that migrants make a massive contribution to our country, but migration needs to be controlled.”He will face questions in the Commons at noon, the majority from the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who criticised Sir Keir and said Labour doesn’t believe in secure borders. More

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    Unemployment rate rises to near four-year high as wage growth falters

    Wage growth has slowed and unemployment is rising, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The statistics watchdog said the latest figures showed further signs of a “cooling” labour market, as average regular earnings growth eased to 5.6 per cent in the three months to March, the lowest since November 2024.However, wages also continue to outpace inflation, rising 2.6 per cent after accounting for the Consumer Prices Index.Experts branded the figures a “major worry”, with the Resolution Foundation blaming chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax-hiking Budget. The Conservatives and top economists blamed the chancellor’s tax-hiking Budget for the figures More

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    Watch live: Adolescence creator Jack Thorne addresses parliament on misogyny among young men and boys

    Watch live as Adolescence creator Jack Thorne addresses parliament on Tuesday (29 April) to discuss misogyny among young men and boys.Mr Thorne will address the Women and Equalities Committee with fellow executive producer Emily Feller as the government faces calls to do more to tackle extreme content being served to young people on social media.The session also comes after Sir Keir Starmer gave his backing for the Netflix drama to be shown in schools and parliament.The prime minister revealed how he had watched the drama with his teenage children.Speaking at a recent PMQs, he said: “This violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem.It’s abhorrent, and we have to tackle it.”The record-breaking show centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl and the rise of incel culture.The show has prompted calls for the government to get tough on tech firms. More

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    Voices: Addiction, misinformation and bullying: Why Independent readers want phones banned in classrooms

    The debate over children’s access to smartphones and social media has intensified in recent months, with growing concerns from teachers, parents, and experts about how screens are affecting young people’s mental health, behaviour, and ability to learn.In an article for The Independent, a headteacher in St Albans has branded the situation a “crisis,” describing daily issues in school linked to children’s use of WhatsApp, TikTok, and other online platforms.Reports of anxiety, bullying, and inappropriate content involving even very young children have sparked calls for urgent change, with many schools, including those involved in the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign, pushing for stricter rules to protect children both inside and outside the classroom.When we asked for your views on whether smartphones should be banned in schools, 73 per cent said yes, calling them too distracting. Only 8 per cent thought students should be allowed to use mobiles freely, while 18 per cent said they should be banned only during lessons. This split was reflected in the responses we received from readers. While some strongly supported a full ban, warning of addiction and falling attention spans, others believed the issue runs deeper and said better parenting, stronger regulation, and more engaging lessons are needed.Here’s what you had to say:Better regulation neededWe need far better regulation of the internet at all levels, especially for under-18s. The opportunity for bad actors to peddle poisonous, often dangerous misinformation online is legion.So start with banning smartphones in schools, and couple that with a strong message to parents explaining why this is necessary and desirable.As someone who works a lot with computers professionally, when I finish, my desire to “surf the net”, as they say, is limited. I would far rather read.I use WhatsApp as a useful messaging tool with clients and friends, and regard the internet as a very useful reference library. It can have many positives if properly used. This we need to communicate to younger generations, as the dangers of control of people’s minds and actions are all too possible.49ninerIssues existed long before smartphonesWhilst I agree that smartphones aren’t suitable for primary-aged children, there seems to be a lot of selective attention and memory happening here. I was a teacher between 1996 and 2015 in secondary schools and issues with attention, bullying and bad influences were happening before the internet and before smartphones. Misogyny, misinformation, porn and sexual assaults happened in the 80s when I was at school – misogyny and sexual assaults on school premises were probably more prevalent in the 80s than now, as they were ingrained in society at that time.When I was in my first few years of teaching in the late 90s, most children in secondary school had old-style mobile phones and some used them in class – texting under the table. My desk drawer ended up half full of phones, iPods, Tamagotchis in some lessons because children like to see what they can get away with. After I answered kids’ phones a few times in class and embarrassed them, the number of phones I had to confiscate gradually dwindled.We need to give children better things to focus on – a more interesting and varied curriculum that gives them a wide range of skills and interests instead of the tedium of sitting in silence in rows of desks and doing unnecessarily frequent testing. Out of school, there need to be a wide variety of clubs and activities where they can go and mix in person.We also need to make sure parents have the resources, time and skills to be good parents and to give their children the support, education and resources they need to grow up to be well-balanced with a wide range of skills.Create a child-friendly web space where educational and interest-based content is available – the internet can be a force for good as sites like YouTube have some useful content.CScarlettNationwide school ban neededI can’t understand why there isn’t a nationwide ban on smartphones in schools. There is not one argument I’ve heard that substantially supports their use in schools, but I have experienced students who appear addicted to their phones. This has serious implications for communication issues with others.onmyownForbidden fruitWhat is important is to be open about the use of mobile phones and ensure you know what children are doing with them. Parents can use ‘settings’ on their child’s phone to put time limits on activities and restrict use to certain times of day. If they are banned, they become the forbidden fruit and parents and teachers are less likely to know what is going on.R10ImpracticalitiesYes, definitely ban phones in/during the classroom. It will be a waste of effort and time to ban phones during classroom breaks. The enforcement will be impractical.MindTheGapRecognise the fact that smartphone use is an addiction. How many of you drop what you’re doing when your phone pings? How many of you go on your phone when watching TV, reading or listening to the radio, etc?How many of you panic and go on an immediate wild hunt when you can’t find your smartphone in the house? This is how it works – it’s an addiction.JustMeHereSocial media is the problemIt’s not the phones that are the problem. It’s social media. I’d emigrate to any country with an outright ban on social media. It’s made society barely worth living in.AjamesParents should take responsibilityHow about parents start taking responsibility for their children and stop expecting the schools and state to do so. If you think children are better off without phones, then how about being a good parent and not giving them one, or stop them taking it to school?Oh sorry, you expect the state to do all of this, like many parents expect the state to potty train their children.HairyferritIt’s the educators, not the phonesA smartphone is just a mini-computer. They can be used for many classroom purposes, or completely wasted and used for chit-chat. It’s the imagination and creativity of the education professionals that is in question here. Mobile phone applications for the execution of teacher education curricula will be used in other countries.MpA smartphone is practically a laptopI purchased my first “mobile” in 1993. It was sufficient to keep in touch with those I needed to. I am not against children having a “normal” mobile phone – it might even give parents a (false) sense of security – but a smartphone is practically going to school with a laptop and spending time on the internet rather than paying attention to what is going on in the classroom.AlexBRMobiles are used far too much for bullying. They are not needed during studies or even at break times. The distractions mean the UK is heading towards USA levels of attainment over the next few years. Kids use them for social media or playing games, very rarely for research to help with their lessons, and if they want to do research, there is always the school library. Ban them from schools and other places of learning.LadyCrumpsall Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity. You can read the full discussion in the comments section of the original article here.The conversation isn’t over. To join in, all you need to do is register your details, then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More

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    Trans woman to hand out disabled toilet keys after Supreme Court ruling leaves ‘no other option’

    A trans woman has resorted to handing out disabled toilet keys after she said the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman left her community fearing for their safety and with “no other option”.Sarah Marsh, 55, described it as an “emergency measure” taken after the UK’s highest court confirmed the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex” in a long-awaited judgment delivered last week. It means that transgender women with a gender recognition certificate, like Ms Marsh, can be excluded from single-sex spaces if “proportionate”. Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson later confirmed that trans women should now use men’s toilets.Sarah Marsh (centre right) with her wife at an Ely Pride march More