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Voices

<p>They’re not natural buddies: after all, Starmer is a careful pescatarian; Trump loves a Big Mac</p>
chris blackhurst

Is the oddest friendship in politics going to save Britain?

There is a consistency in everything the US president has done since the inauguration: he is doing what he says. And he says he’s got time for Starmer – we’d do well to believe him, writes Chris Blackhurst. It’s all we’ve got

<p>‘Even if the UK is not targeted directly with tariffs – as the Starmer government hopes – it is unlikely to escape the fallout’</p>
The Independent View

Trump tariffs must not deter Starmer from seeking closer EU ties

    <p>Parents are struggling with the cost of baby formula milk after prices had soared (PA)</p>
    Dayna Brackley

    The baby formula industry is exploiting us – and parents are paying the price

    <p></p>
    James Moore

    Primark does more for disabled Britons than the government

    <p>Donald Trump speaks about the mid-air crash at a Washington press briefing</p>
    Letters

    Trump’s response to air crashes suggests Americans don’t get irony

    <p>Nightbitch (2024) sees Amy Adams transform into a dog because she’s frustrated with the tedium of marriage and domesticity </p>
    dear vix

    I’m in a sexless marriage – how do I spice things up?

    <p>‘These are minor incidents but put together they cultivate an unsafe environment’</p>
    Olivia Petter

    Of course women suffer ‘gym-phobia’ – has anyone been in one lately?

    The Money Column

    Vinted: Declutter, make money, but beware of ghosting

    the eco chamber

    How Elon Musk might win over his EV competitors

    <p>‘I aim to be that role model for them who shows that faith and an LGBT+ identity can coexist’ </p>
    Graham Ward-Tipping

    It’s a sin: What it’s like being a gay teacher in a Catholic school

    <p>Donald Trump speaks to reporters after the plane and helicopter crash in Washington DC</p>
    Voices

    Trump lashing out at diversity is more revealing than he realises

    <p>Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall speaking to the media outside the Department for Work and Pensions in Westminster, London</p>
    The Independent View

    Ministers need to build on past Labour success in welfare savings

    <p>Former Prime Minister Baroness May of Maidenhead (Hannah McKay/PA)</p>
    John Rentoul

    Yes, Dominic Cummings, Labour should have backed Theresa May’s Brexit

    <p>When Princess Rose broke into song like a hyper-sexed canary / The expressions of astonishment on the faces of my friends</p>
    frieda hughes

    The lurid fun of an ‘adults only’ pantomime

    <p>‘He told me he was going on a 3-month sabbatical to southeast Asia’</p>
    Lucy Rout

    Fatigued by apps, I flew almost 10,000 miles for a date

    <p>Royal Mail is set to be allowed to ditch Saturday deliveries for second-class letters</p>
    James Moore

    Shaking up second-class post will give us the service we deserve

    <p>‘I was still troubled that any photo of me could be lifted by anyone at any time’</p>
    Sharan Dhaliwal

    I found photos of my armpits on 4chan

    When Sharan Dhaliwal discovered that personal photographs had been published on an extreme forum, she was just as outraged to learn how powerless she was to do anything about it

    <p>‘With progress comes challenges for LGBT+ people – but our history shows us that minds, attitudes and laws can be changed’ </p>
    Simon Blake

    Trump’s first moves as president are catastrophic for LGBT+ rights

    <p>Is getting fit your new year’s resolution? </p>
    Rhea Freeman

    Take it from me as a life coach: ditch your new year’s resolutions

    Explore news for you

    More Voices

    <p>The ‘Emilia Perez’ actress cried on social media, following ICE raids last weekend </p>
    Voices

    Sadly, Selena – it’ll take more than liberal tears to defeat Trump

    Voices

    Sadly, Selena – it’ll take more than liberal tears to defeat Trump

    Emma Clarke
    <p>The ‘Emilia Perez’ actress cried on social media, following ICE raids last weekend </p>
    <p>‘Why not take a beat, and think about what you want your 2025 drinking to look like?’</p>
    Voices

    It's the end of Dry January – here are the perfect wines to celebrate

    <p></p>
    Letters

    This pivotal moment in time does not warrant a cautious response

    <p>Toby Jones (right) plays Alan Rusbridger in upcoming drama ‘The Hack’</p>
    Voices

    I’m thrilled to be played by Toby Jones – journalism needs star power

    <p></p>
    Business Comment

    The UK’s attempt to clean up social media is dangerously slow

    <p></p>
    Business Comment

    The UK’s attempt to clean up social media is dangerously slow

    <p>Keir Starmer has pursued a policy of ‘resetting’ relations with the EU</p>
    Voices

    It’s time Starmer made a bold move to make Britain’s EU reset happen

    Voices

    Lessons learned from five years of Brexit – and what we must do next

    Most commented

    Trump’s tariffs inspire retaliation from Canada as president rebukes South Africa

    222 comments

    Starmer's Brexit reset overshadowed by Trump trade war as EU markets tumble: Live

    236 comments

    Macron to tell Starmer his EU reset is evidence Brexit has failed

    115 comments

    Mexico and Canada hit back with tariff retaliation as Trump sparks new trade war

    361 comments
    Join the Conversation

    More Voices

    <p>It’s been five years since Britain formally left the EU</p>
    The Independent View

    Five years on, Brexit is still the gift that keeps on taking

    <p>‘US tariffs could actually be good if we want a renewed relationship with the EU’</p>
    Letters

    Rejoice! Trump’s tariffs will force Brexit Britain back into the EU

    <p>China’s DeepSeek R1 release coincided with Donald Trump’s inauguration</p>
    Voices

    Good news for the UK – DeepSeek has blown the AI competition wide open

    <p>Boris Johnson led the official Vote Leave campaign bus in the Brexit referendum (Stefan Rousseau/PA)</p>
    Voices

    Who are the 10 biggest villains of Brexit?

    <p>Ed Davey delivering his speech on British leadership in trade and defence on Thursday</p>
    Voices

    The Tories and Labour have been in a conspiracy of silence over Brexit

    <p>Home secretary Yvette Cooper leaves Hull Minster with husband Ed Balls</p>
    Voices

    Yvette Cooper has given up trying to stop the boats

    <p>Boris Johnson led the official Vote Leave campaign bus in the Brexit referendum (Stefan Rousseau/PA)</p>
    Voices

    Who are the 10 biggest villains of Brexit?

    <p>Ed Davey delivering his speech on British leadership in trade and defence on Thursday</p>
    Voices

    The Tories and Labour have been in a conspiracy of silence over Brexit

    <p>Home secretary Yvette Cooper leaves Hull Minster with husband Ed Balls</p>
    Voices

    Yvette Cooper has given up trying to stop the boats

    <p>‘Many of the current Cabinet, including Reeves herself, opposed a third Heathrow runway last time around’</p>
    Voices

    There’s another reason Rachel Reeves is so keen to talk about Heathrow

    Voices

    There’s another reason Rachel Reeves is so keen to talk about Heathrow

    Mary Dejevsky
    <p>‘Many of the current Cabinet, including Reeves herself, opposed a third Heathrow runway last time around’</p>
    <p>‘The European Union is evolving, and with the risks presented by Donald Trump the urgency to accelerate this transformation has never been greater‘</p>
    Voices

    Thanks to Trump, post-Brexit Britain must strengthen its EU ties

    <p>Yvette Cooper has adopted too readily much of the rest of the Conservatives’ approach to immigration</p>
    The Independent View

    The government’s borders bill must be tempered with compassion

    <p>Shorthaul flights are not only environmentally damaging, but completely unnecessary</p>
    Letters

    Build a third runway? Heathrow should drop its shorthaul flights

    <p>‘By the time we sell the house, we will have spent around £15,000 on the bats’ </p>
    Voices

    Bats have ruined my house sale – Reeves is right to give them the boot

    <p>‘By the time we sell the house, we will have spent around £15,000 on the bats’ </p>
    Voices

    Bats have ruined my house sale – Reeves is right to give them the boot

    <p>‘No one has ever escaped Guantanamo – nor is it likely’ </p>
    Voices

    Trump’s plan to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay will cost him dear

    <p>‘Idris Elba is spot on when he says more needs to be done to close the loopholes that allow some blades to remain on UK streets’ </p>
    Voices

    With his blunt kitchen knife idea, Idris Elba is on point

    30 January 2025
    The Independent View

    Can Rachel Reeves defeat the anti-growth coalition in the cabinet?

    <p>Trump spoke at the 2024 Bitcoin conference while campaigning for the presidency </p>
    Voices

    Bitcoin just made Trump billions. But how much will it cost all of us?

    <p>Pastries decorated with an edible picture of Trump are presented at a bakery in Freinsheim, Germany to mark his second inauguration</p>
    Voices

    Could the markets see a gold rush as Trump returns to power?

    <p>In her letter, Caroline Kennedy describes her cousin as being ‘addicted to attention and power’ </p>
    Voices

    What RFK Jr’s weirdest habits tell us about him

    <p>Finalist Alexander Dragonetti on ‘The Traitors: Uncloaked’</p>
    Letters

    The Traitors is the show that keeps on giving

    <p>Business groups and economists have said chancellor Rachel Reeves’s latest plans to grow the economy are welcome</p>
    Voices

    Rachel Reeves’s growth speech felt more like an emergency Budget

    <p>Lord Mandelson – who has been deputy prime minister and EU trade commissioner – is much more a rule-maker than a rule-taker</p>
    Voices

    Mandelson is a gamble as US ambassador – but exactly what Trump needs

    <p>In November, figures estimated that net migration had hit a record 906,000 in 2023 (PA)</p>
    The Independent View

    As the UK population grows, the economic opportunities are plain

    <p>Displaced Gazans walk towards the Rafah border crossing</p>
    Letters

    Why should Israel’s neighbours take in Palestinian refugees?

    Letters

    Why should Israel’s neighbours take in Palestinian refugees?

    Letters
    <p>Displaced Gazans walk towards the Rafah border crossing</p>
    <p>According to new ONS stats, the UK population will soar to 72.5million by 2032 </p>
    Voices

    Without immigration, we’d be a lonely, isolated isle

    <p>American industrialist Henry Ford with his ‘universal’ Model T, which ‘put the world on wheels’</p>
    Voices

    DeepSeek is a lesson from history we should have learned by now

    <p>A customer at a WHSmith store in London </p>
    Voices

    Magazine editors mourn the loss of WHSmith – but will anyone else?

    <p>DeepSeek is already the most downloaded app in the Apple Store</p>
    Voices

    DeepSeek isn’t the AI game-changer the Chinese think it is

    <p>DeepSeek is already the most downloaded app in the Apple Store</p>
    Voices

    DeepSeek isn’t the AI game-changer the Chinese think it is

    <p>A survivor stands next to the Death Wall on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp </p>
    The Independent View

    Holocaust commemoration reminds us of fight against intolerance

    <p>Fifty-two per cent of those aged between 13 and 27 said they thought ’the UK would be a better place if a strong leader was in charge who does not have to bother with parliament and elections’</p>
    Voices

    If Gen Z gives up on democracy, we’re in more trouble than we thought

    <p>Waitrose needs to up its game or lose more loyal customers</p>
    Letters

    It’ll take more than a free coffee to get me to shop at Waitrose again

    <p>‘Bridget bumbled her way hopelessly through the sexist world of daytime TV. We saw our own failures and successes in her antics – and celebrated them’ </p>
    Voices

    Bridget Jones was the perfect scrappy heroine – how can Gen Z relate?

    <p>Chancellor Rachel Reeves </p>
    Voices

    Rachel Reeves won’t reverse – but she might try a three-point turn

    <p>Tractors outside Parliament during a protest by farmers</p>
    Voices

    Britain is sleepwalking into a food supply crisis

    <p></p>
    Voices

    Trump’s suggestion to ‘clean out’ Gaza is extreme and dangerous

    <p>‘I will reflect on all of those in whose name I share my testimony week in and week out’ </p>
    Voices

    I still find it hard to believe that the Holocaust happened to us

    <p>Rachel Reeves</p>
    The Independent View

    Rachel Reeves’s more upbeat message is a start – she must now deliver

    <p>Donald Trump with the Bishop of Washington, who angered the president with her sermon about mercy </p>
    Letters

    We have nothing to fear from Trump himself

    <p>Earlier this month, the King met Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg and his wife, Shary Goldberg, at a reception marking Holocaust Memorial Day</p>
    Voices

    Why it is time to stop using the word ‘antisemitism’

    Voices

    Why it is time to stop using the word ‘antisemitism’

    Etan Smallman
    <p>Earlier this month, the King met Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg and his wife, Shary Goldberg, at a reception marking Holocaust Memorial Day</p>
    <p>Parents pay more than £90k over 18 years for their children </p>
    Voices

    The shocking truth about the cost of raising children

    <p>Rosamund Hall has selected the best organic wines of the moment</p>
    Voices

    Why organic wines are having such a moment

    <p>‘Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are costing healthcare systems dearly’ </p>
    Voices

    Everything you thought you knew about ultra-processed foods is wrong

    <p>Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Los Angeles international airport in Los Angeles, California, on 24 January 2025</p>
    The Independent View

    There is some small comfort in the promises Trump failed to keep

    <p>Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Los Angeles international airport in Los Angeles, California, on 24 January 2025</p>
    The Independent View

    There is some small comfort in the promises Trump failed to keep

    <p>The judges who allowed murdered Sara Sharif to live with her father and stepmother will be named, the court of appeal has ruled </p>
    The Independent View

    The judges in the Sara Sharif case have no right to anonymity

    <p>Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, 2018</p>
    Voices

    Freezing aid to Ukraine shows Trump is no ally to the West

    <p>The zealous optimism of Reeves’s latest interview ended up trying to have it both ways</p>
    Voices

    Reeves’s Scrooge-like epiphany on British growth is unconvincing

    <p>Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement on the Southport killings (Henry Nicholls/PA)</p>
    Letters

    After Southport, Britain must change… but how?

    <p>‘Carpenter, with her awards and record-breaking industry achievements, is the one having the last laugh’</p>
    Voices

    I love it when older guys tell younger women what to wear – don’t you?

    <p>From Monday, anyone armed with a reusable cup will again be able to claim a free tea or coffee from Waitrose </p>
    Voices

    Could free coffee win Waitrose the battle of the posh supermarkets?

    <p>Rush hour at Mumbai’s Churchgate station, now renamed Chintamanrao Deshmukh station</p>
    Voices

    Paying reparations will not teach Britain about the damage of empire

    Voices

    Trump’s vendetta agenda shows an undimmed lust for retribution

    <p>The idea Keir Starmer heads a ‘socialist’ government will come as news to Labour left-wingers</p>
    Voices

    It’s time Keir Starmer proved Elon Musk wrong

    Business Comment

    Trump’s superpower could be the key to Rachel Reeves’s success

    <p>Foreign secretary David Lammy arriving at Abeche airport, in the Ouaddai Region, while on his trip to Chad </p>
    Voices

    In Sudan, I confronted the darkest corners of humanity

    Voices

    In Sudan, I confronted the darkest corners of humanity

    David Lammy
    <p>Foreign secretary David Lammy arriving at Abeche airport, in the Ouaddai Region, while on his trip to Chad </p>
    <p>‘The government should not be afraid to let Thames Water go bust’ </p>
    Letters

    It’s about time Thames Water was flushed away

    <p>‘While the young Trump was hitting the party scene in Manhattan, his Chinese opponent was slowly climbing out of misery to get onto the ladder of power’ </p>
    Voices

    TikTok, trade and tariffs: What is Trump playing at with China? 

    <p>Every day I walk the huskies past the string of mounds / Each one right next to the other, so far fifteen / And still the little mole has not given up / And turned around</p>
    Voices

    How I learned a surprising lesson in resilience

    <p>Rachel Reeves speaks during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland</p>
    The Independent View

    Britain must not drive away the global rich

    <p>Rachel Reeves speaks during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland</p>
    The Independent View

    Britain must not drive away the global rich

    <p>Axel Rudakubana on his way to the scene of his killings </p>
    Voices

    Will politicians resist temptation to exploit the Southport horror?

    <p>Mixed berries have great health benefits</p>
    Letters

    Want us to reach net zero? Stop buying unseasonal fruit

    <p>‘What happens next depends on whether or not people in power consider Murdoch’s company should be treated like any other – or whether there is some sort of “Murdoch exception”’ </p>
    Voices

    The lies and smears from Murdoch’s news empire cannot be ignored

    Voices

    The ‘nasty’ bishop is not alone: Trump must brace for more fireworks 

    <p>British factory output contracted at the fastest rate in 11 months in December</p>
    Voices

    Can Keir Starmer afford to say no to the EU’s advances?

    <p>‘President Trump has avoided any threat that might arrest the attention of the Russian president’ </p>
    Voices

    Trump’s empty threats to Putin expose his achilles heel

    <p>‘It is not just about removing the knives; it is about transforming the mindset’ </p>
    Voices

    ID crackdowns on illegal knife sales won’t work – but here’s what will

    <p>This image released by Netflix shows Ambika Mod, left, and Leo Woodall in a scene from the Netflix mini-series One Day: charting the search for affection and understanding between two unlikely lovers (Netflix via AP)</p>
    Voices

    Why am I always attracted to emotionally unavailable people?

    <p>‘President Trump has avoided any threat that might arrest the attention of the Russian president’ </p>
    Voices

    Trump’s empty threats to Putin expose his achilles heel

    <p>‘It is not just about removing the knives; it is about transforming the mindset’ </p>
    Voices

    ID crackdowns on illegal knife sales won’t work – but here’s what will

    <p>This image released by Netflix shows Ambika Mod, left, and Leo Woodall in a scene from the Netflix mini-series One Day: charting the search for affection and understanding between two unlikely lovers (Netflix via AP)</p>
    Voices

    Why am I always attracted to emotionally unavailable people?

    <p>‘Prince Harry’s stubborn persistence in pursuing his case against Mr Murdoch’s company has struck a welcome, if unexpected, blow for the health of our civic culture’ </p>
    The Independent View

    Against the odds, Prince Harry has won a landmark victory

    <p>Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Xi Jinping before their meeting in 2020 </p>
    Voices

    Why Trump quit WHO – and it’s vital for us all that he should stay

    Voices

    I’m with the bishop who showed the courage I lacked as a church leader

    <p>Starmer is too concerned with upsetting the Brexiteers to negotiate with the EU</p>
    Letters

    When it comes to trade, Starmer has shot himself in the foot

    <p>Bishop Mariann Budde breaks silence after challenging Donald Trump during prayer service</p>
    Voices

    The ‘woke’ bishop’s sermon to Trump wasn’t an ambush. It was a war cry

    <p>The chancellor is right to go for growth – without it, the Starmer government’s entire project will fail</p>
    Voices

    Rachel Reeves needs a new Heathrow runway more than Britain does

    <p>Has Brexit delivered on its promises? </p>
    UK Politics

    Brexit five years on – was it worth it? Join The Independent Debate

    <p>The Argentinian president Javier Milei with Italy’s hard-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni at Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington </p>
    Voices

    Will Trump now spark the ‘Mega’ movement – to Make Europe Great Again?

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