UK

The equalities watchdog is under pressure to withdraw its interim guidance on single-sex spaces in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on gender, after campaigners dubbed it a “bigoted attempt to segregate trans people in public spaces”. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been accused of breaching trans peoples’ rights with campaigners saying it not only forces them into inappropriate spaces, but it also risks outing them. It comes after the Supreme Court ruled that trans women are not legally women under the Equalities Act, a judgment which means that transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if “proportionate”.A flag in the colours of the trans movement flies in central London (Andrew Matthews/PA) More

Smartphones are “impossible” to make safe for children and should be banned from schools, a royal family member and actress has said.Sophie Winkleman, styled as Lady Frederick Windsor, warned phones can have physical and emotional “consequences”.The actress, known for playing Big Suze in Channel 4 comedy Peep Show, has previously leant to her support to a ban on under-16s from having smartphones, and was a supporter of strengthening the Online Safety Act.“I think the impact of smartphones on children’s mental and physical health is so immense and so multi-stranded that it’s actually impossible to make them safe,” she said.“They’re designed by geniuses to be unputdownable,” she told an event hosted by the Policy Exchange think tank in Westminster.“Even if a child is only watching animal videos for three hours, they’re still stationary, isolated and passive.“They’re simply consuming content, open vessels for other people’s garbage often for hours at a time.“The physical consequences of this vice like addiction range from eyesight damage, spinal damage, sleep disturbance, hormone disruption, obesity and manifold neurological impairments, which include the decimation of the attention span, giving rise to various ADHD like symptoms.“The emotional and safeguarding harms are equally multiple.”A survey of more than 15,000 schools in England by the Children’s Commissioner suggests that the vast majority already have policies in place that restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.The Netflix drama Adolescence, which examines so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture, has fuelled a debate about smartphones in schools in recent weeks.But the Government has so far resisted calls to ban phones in schools.Also speaking at the event, independent MP Rosie Duffield, who resigned from Labour last year, said the Government should be more receptive to findings on the harm caused by smartphones in schools.“We share evidence, research, ideas and opportunities to engage with the Government and discuss policy,” the former teaching assistant said.“This has been surprisingly clunky and difficult given the mounting evidence of harm and the growing level of concern from individual parents and groups of parents.“Children need us to keep up the pressure on the Government that growth from financial deals with tech firms cannot be at the expense of our children.“More and more parents and groups are coming to talk to me about this issue.”Ms Duffield resigned the Labour whip in September 2024, accusing the Prime Minister of “hypocrisy” and pursuing “cruel” policies.Relations between the Canterbury MP and the party leadership had long been strained, particularly over transgender rights. More

Rachel Reeves is facing the prospect of further pressure on struggling public finances as the government is considering handing pay rises to millions of public sector workers in order to avoid the looming threat of strike action. It comes after public sector pay review bodies recommended pay rises of as much as 4 per cent for teachers and 3 per cent for NHS workers – significantly more than the 2.8 per cent that the government budgeted for. Care minister Stephen Kinnock said the government will give “careful consideration” to the recommendations, but insisted the government would make sure it is balancing the books.A rejection of the recommendations is likely to spark another wave of disruptive strike action which could bring public services to a standstill. Health minister Stephen Kinnock More

The so-called “special relationship” between the UK and the US has sparked fierce debate among Independent readers, with many questioning whether it ever truly existed — and whether it should survive.Against the backdrop of escalating trade tensions and Donald Trump’s new tariffs on British exports, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has suggested that reconnecting with Europe may now matter more than clinging to historic US ties. Her comments in Washington followed a new Ipsos poll which revealed that nearly 70 per cent of Brits no longer believe in a special relationship with America — a view echoed by our readers.In our own poll, 35 per cent said they never believed in the special relationship, 59 per cent said times have changed, and just 6 per cent think it is still important.Some readers argued that Britain has clung for too long to an outdated myth, born from the Second World War and nurtured by politicians unwilling to accept Britain’s post-imperial decline. Several described the relationship as one-sided, with the US benefitting at Britain’s expense, and one even branded it “abject subservience.”Others pointed out that Britain has more in common culturally and economically with Europe than with the US, and urged a shift towards closer European ties.Overall, readers seemed united in believing that the “special relationship” has become a relic of the past and agreed that a shared language and history are not enough to justify continued loyalty today.Here’s what you had to say:Europe is our futureThis idea dates from Churchill during the war, and he was half American. I suppose the attraction is that the US has taken over the power that the now-defunct British Empire used to have.I have long believed that Europe is our future. Sadly, our politicians think otherwise. What Reeves said about needing to connect with Europe is not before time.49ninerThis special relationship nonsense is due mainly to the Second World War. The Americans only joined after Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. If that hadn’t happened, it would have been us and Russia. As for the Lend-Lease, the Americans got very well paid for that. It took us until the 21st century to pay that off. But we should be respectful and grateful to all those Americans who gave their lives for our freedom.RWG50Obsessed with past gloryEngland has always been obsessed with past glory. Hence, Brexit. We, as Europeans, believe in our union. Brits still believe they are superior, and because of that feeling, they are unable to conceive of being a member of the EU. As for the special relationship, let’s not forget they fought a war to get rid of the king. The only thing both share is English… and in our world of today, that’s not enough.EuropeancitizenAbject, grovelling subservienceThe Special Relationship only ever existed in the minds of British politicians, especially Labour politicians. In this sense, it still exists, but “special relationship” was never the right word: how about “abject, grovelling subservience”? Yes, the USA was a key ally during the Second World War. So was the USSR — do we have a special relationship with them too?Actually, the situation post-dates 1945. The Attlee government emerged from the war hoping to maintain the British Empire and hold onto superpower status. When they realised that Britain did not have the industrial muscle for this, and especially after the sudden loss of the Indian Empire, they decided that hanging on to Uncle Sam’s coat-tails would be the best option.You can date this to 1948, when Britain decided to pull out of the Greek Civil War and also to go along with the disastrous American support for a Zionist state in Palestine — something the British had previously opposed. After that came and the Cold War, enthusiastically supported by the Labour government.enviousThe British are like the AmericansDo I think America listens to us? Not really. Do I think the British are more like the Americans than any other people in the world? Yes. And that’s more than an empire that all speaks our language, but to have inherited this position, too. Nepo baby states that can’t really do anything in the real world, but that’s no barrier to ruling the world. Power without merit lingers on in its position and its place, the least civilised part of the civilised world.TheRedSquirrelI’ve always been sceptical about the special relationship. I’ve only ever heard that phrase being used by British politicians and media, although I’m willing to be corrected on that. It appears to me that we’ve always adopted a position of subservience to the US. Having worked a bit in the US, I also disagree that we are more like Americans than anyone else. Culturally, we are quite different, and I think that we have more in common with our close European neighbours. I know that it’s a bit of a cliché, but the average American is really quite parochial and ignorant of the rest of the world.BionicpantsMore predictable partnersI wish that I thought that there was a special relationship, but recent events have made that no longer credible. The Trump presidency will continue until 2028, and longer if he is able to fool the American people into rewriting the constitution – we have no idea what will come after – and even a change of party in power can’t remove the possibility of a return to isolationist unpredictability when the Presidency next changes. So, I think it’s over, and we need to seek more predictable partners elsewhere in the world.DeMezaWhat special relationship? What special relationship? To me, it seems to be a one-way relationship with the bigger partner benefitting exclusively at the expense of the smaller. Take off the blindfolds and earmuffs and wake up to reality.ChristopherNothing special about sharing a languageBoth the UK and the US are divided into English and American languages, as are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.There is nothing special about sharing a language, especially for America. It is also worth considering that the American language has constantly shifted in spelling and meaning, and in creating American grammar.PlonkNo special relationship in tradeWe have never truly had a so-called special relationship with America when it comes to trade.Under Trump, the situation will get worse… his tariffs have wiped trillions of pounds off the world markets, and I guarantee that Trump’s companies, and those owned by his billionaire buddies (such as Musk), will have made a shed load of money by effectively insider trading due to their knowledge in advance of Trump’s tariffs plan — which changes every five minutes.Trump has already said that the USA, China and Russia should have control of world markets, as they are the biggest economies — funny how his politics mirror communism and dictatorship.WIGAN72A broken relationshipThe pressure to maintain this so-called “relationship” arose from our wish to retain a commercial advantage which would be of benefit to the UK. Now, a broken relationship at the behest of a rogue president, we are faced with a vacuum from which the US is avowed to seek an advantageous position over all its trading partners.omgogmogVassal StateIt’s an abusive one-way relationship. America buys up all our assets and innovative businesses and then charges us for the privilege of using them… Then proceeds to insult and belittle us. Like Angus Hanton says, we are a Vassal State.theculture3Never existedIt never existed. It was always a myth designed to lead Britain by the nose to bend to America’s will whilst we continued paying dearly for the privilege. They sat out WW1 until 1917 , then only saw action in 1918. They turned up, predictably, for the sharing out of reparations.Next time round, they stayed home trading with both sides, even using nefarious deals to disguise their efforts using neutral nations as channels by which to supply Germany/Hitler. They didn’t get their boots muddy and their knees dirty until 1942, and then Churchill cornered them into declaring against Germany.After WW2, they tried to drag us into every profiteering land and asset-grab they went into as they sought to preserve their own assets/resources and exploited the hell out of anybody else’s. That always featured oil as a main target.We need to be telling Trump that all bets are off- that, in future, he will be paying huge rents for any bases in the UK, that, he will be agreeing to the end of treaties that enable US criminals to be shipped home/escape prosecution if they are military/state personnel.We managed to pay off their war loans, now it is time to actually make European bonds that will enable us economically to make the USA recognise they really are not the commercial or military super-power, be all and end all, their lazy, fatuous mythology paints them as.PaganPilgrim3Comedy goldThe special relationship is like comedy gold, the only time the US uses it is when they want support in one of their wars that they keep stumbling into like a drunk in a china shop. In a way, the UK relives its days of empire and glory of ruling the world through the US (which itself is a dying empire). Sadly, we needed to be part of a strong European project to deal with world issues, but that’s dodo for us, and Europeans seem confused, relying on the US too much.Bparker2Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day’s top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click ‘log in’ or ‘register’ in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More

Fewer people than ever are prepared to vote Tory or Labour as Reform look set to claim hundreds of seats at this week’s local elections, polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice has said.Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Prof Curtice said less than half of voters are telling pollsters they will vote for one of the two main parties, in a historic shift in voting patterns.He said: “Fewer than half of the people who tell pollsters how they are going to vote say they are going to vote either Conservative or Labour. It has never been quite that low before.” The big winner from the shift in voter intentions is Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which Prof Curtice described as having “already won” next week’s elections before a single seat is declared.The professor said that while Reform, along with its predecessor parties Ukip and the Brexit Party, has previously eaten into the Tory vote, it is now taking thousands of Labour votes as well.Britain’s top pollster says Nigel Farage’s party is the big winner already More

The government will ban its trans employees from using bathrooms that reflect their gender, a Cabinet minister has suggested. Pat McFadden suggested such a decision is the “logical consequence” of last week’s Supreme Court ruling on gender and comes after the equalities watchdog issued interim guidance on the issue. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance states that trans women “should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities” in workplaces or public-facing services like shops and hospitals. The same applies to trans men, who are biologically female, using men’s toilets.Asked whether the government, as an employer, will stop trans people from using the changing rooms or bathrooms that they wish to use, Mr McFadden told the BBC: “Yes, that’s the logical consequence of the judgment and the guidance that’s come out, that people use the facilities of the biological sex. “That’s what the court said and that’s what the guidance has said.” Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden (Jeff Overs/BBC) More

Rachel Reeves has insisted she wants Britain’s young people to be able to work in Europe, amid growing pressure on the government to agree a youth mobility scheme with the EU. The chancellor also said she’s “determined that we can get there” after talks about a trade deal with her US counterpart Scott Bessent in Washington. Asked about the prospect of a youth mobility scheme, Ms Reeves said: “We’re going to bring down net migration and we aren’t going to return to freedom of movement. But we are hosting the summit next month. “We do want to see better trading relationships between our countries and we do want to enable young people from Europe and the UK to be able to work and travel overseas.” Speaking to The Sunday Times, she added: “But we’ve got to get the balance right, because I do not want to see net migration increasing. I want to see net migration falling.” Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has met her US counterpart (Danny Lawson/PA) More

Steelmaking in Scunthorpe will continue after the government confirmed the arrival of a new shipment of raw materials on Sunday, crucial to helping ensure the blast furnaces at British Steel keep running for the coming months. The shipment of 55,000 tonnes of blast furnace coke has arrived in the UK to fuel the Scunthorpe plant in North Lincolnshire, and more than 66,000 tonnes of iron ore pellets and 27,000 tonnes of iron ore fines are soon to arrive.It comes after ministers used emergency powers to take control of British Steel and continue production at the site after what was thought to be a plot to sabotage the Scunthorpe plant by its Chinese owners Jingye. After a scramble over the Easter holidays to obtain the coal and iron needed to keep the plant going, the company confirmed earlier this week that both the Scunthorpe blast furnaces will continue to operate.Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant More