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And why The Lead is staying too.

On immigration, Labour seems poised to learn the wrong lessons from Trump’s victory - and make the far right more likely to win in the UK, too. But there's a different path.
 

Writer, journalist and former music industry professional.

The future of steelmaking on Teesside now hinges on a government pledge to back green steel, but questions remain over whether it will come in time.

Dean Wilson, 39, has been handed a ten-year ban from being a company director after an investigation into The Olive Tree Brasserie chain and its finances

What role did misogyny play in the American election? What does it mean for climate policy? And what's the most immediate foreign policy threat? Our editors weigh in.

There are almost no silver linings in this American election. But there are lessons to be learned - particularly for Keir Starmer.
 

From public service relief to tax hikes, Labour’s first budget signals a shift—but can it truly mend what’s broken? The Lead UK’s editors give their verdict
 

The Lead UK’s policy panel react to Reeves' tax and spend plans

The Chancellor's eyeing up changing the financial rules of play for the government. Economist Phil Tomlinson breaks down what it means and how it could boost the country's future.
 

Plus: The Teesside Lead relaunches with Leigh Jones as editor

Residents on waiting lists are being shunted between privately owned B&Bs, hotels and hostels. We filed Freedom of Information requests to two councils to find out the costs.

Our new series - by Westminster Editor Zoë Grünewald - will push for the government to go far beyond its promise of 1.5 million new homes, and to revolutionise how we see housing in the UK.

There is no excuse to retain Osborne's performative cruelty. Even electorally, keeping it can only alienate any Tories who might yet vote Labour—and it makes no social, moral or economic sense either.

Mike is publisher of The Lead. He is the founder and CEO of 89up, Europe's first and biggest impact agency for civil society and non-profits, as well as publisher and owner of Little Atoms, an award-winning magazine distributed globally and a podcast and online magazine enjoyed by a global audience of millions.

Ignore a minority of self-serving voices. Rachel Reeves should abolish BADR - and use the money gained to remove the shameful two-child benefit cap.

Despite several unforced errors, Keir Starmer's start is a vast improvement on his predecessors. "Worst in living memory"? Maybe if you're a toddler. The Lead's editors weigh in.
 

Academies were meant to ensure greater investments in pupils, curricula and teachers. But in many, the most direct beneficiaries have been the senior leaders.

Blackpool Music School and Best Foods received letters from Blackpool Council saying the forecourt could no longer be used for parking

True, Tories will now have to choose between nearly unelectable leaders. But elections aren't the only game in town—and there's one front on which Labour, and even Britain, are especially vulnerable.
 

The town remains without a courthouse as 2026 timescale for Devonshire Road site has now been derailed

Funding still needs to be found but councillors have given the green light to proposals for a major revamp of the Grundy and Central Library

Even if each excuse was factually correct, the picture Labour projects does not bode well for the party - or for British democracy.
 

The woman had her PTSD likened to a broken leg by Superintendent Chris Hardy, one of the force’s most senior officers, documents say.

A report has warned young people who are educated at home “make up a significant proportion” of those who are out of work or not in education or training after they finish compulsory schooling

Both men pleaded guilty after a man was left in a critical condition after an assault in Blackpool

Work on the Revoe Sports Village has been delayed since planning permission was granted in January 2023

Introducing The Drift, our new column tracking the rise and rise of the extreme right in the UK.

Olly is a freelance journalist covering politics, culture and social movements and documentary researcher.

Aberporth might only have a couple of thousands residents, but its also home to two defence companies and a private airport that hosts and tests aircrafts potentially implicated in war crimes.

It costs the council £290,000 a year on average for each child in private residential care

Blackpool Council wants to convert Harrow Place into a one-way road

“The brutal reality of airport economics doesn’t stack up for Blackpool in terms of the return of large-scale commercial operations."

The Migration Museum sits in one of London's most diverse neighbourhoods, once the scene of fierce clashes with the Far Right. A new, timely installation opened last week - we went to take a look.

Starbucks would be the second well-known name to take space in the hotel in recent times, following the opening of the Turtle Bay restaurant in summer 2023

Jim O'Neill took the seat in Marton from Labour. The by-election was held after Sarah Smith stood down following her election as the MP for Hyndburn in the general election.

The Terrace Bar next to Central Pier has faced the threat of closure since the discovery in 2021 that it did not have planning permission

As drivers petition the government to reverse deregulation of private hire, Uber is given licence to operate in the town despite new safety fears emerging

The scheme would see a two-storey extension built to the Grundy Art Gallery on Queen Street 

Blackpool Council’s Project Amber scheme uses an advanced imagery system that takes high-definition pictures of roads to detect potholes

Applicant Mathan Mahalingam and KDEN Architecture Services Ltd are seeking planning permission for the scheme 

Labour's Louise Haigh vowed that if there is demand, then the possibility can be investigated

The incident took place between parked cars in Waterloo Road, Blackpool.

Israel has wiped out most of the leadership of Hezbollah, including its iconic leader—at an enormous cost to civilians. But the path to even wider conflict now seems murkier. Here's why.

There's £2billion being pumped into Blackpool - from the Airport, to the town centre, to new housing developments. Here's the major schemes set to change the town.

Blackpool Council chiefs have said should there be an influx, they have a “clear pathway” to deal with it.

Blackpool Transport said all trams were monitored to ensure “passengers travel as safely and comfortably as possible”

Wyre Council and the Environment Agency are investigating whether a chemical called Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has contaminated local gardens and allotments

44-year-old Gareth Walton was found guilty of 19 sex offences including sex assaults and sentenced to 28 years in prison.

“In circumstances where these criteria are met we have a legal duty to issue the licence..."

From swathes of new housing to Talbot Gateway there's billions being pumped into the town - we look at where and what impact it is having

The figures were included in a report to Blackpool Council’s Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee

Coun Williams said the allowance was “poorly targeted in terms of getting support to those in need”.

Conservative Tony Warne quits as he takes role as an NHS Trust chair triggering another by-election in Blackpool

Planners at Fylde Council gave the plans the go ahead using delegated powers.

The initial response service was set up so that people don't need doctor referral to receive help

Footage released by police shows John Robinson during his arrest as he played a 'key role' in the disorder on Saturday 3 August in Blackpool town centre

Results could have been 'catastrophic' without the help of a relaunched CCTV system, council told

There are calls for a disused entrance to be reopened to boost footfall further

It is nine years since plans were first put forward - and almost three years since any work has been done

Poet and spoke word artist Nathan Parker teams up with Streetlife to bring stories from the streets to life

Adults and children in urgent need of mental health treatment face hundreds of hours waits in "environments that will make their symptoms worse," senior NHS source says.

Rob Kerr, 42, died this week from his injuries. He had stayed at his home for five days after being assaulted before going to A&E. Police have made new arrest in murder investigation.

The Lead is now on Substack. Become a Member, and get our most groundbreaking content first. Become a Founder, and join the newsroom's internal conversation - meet the writers, the editors and more.

Eight cases of staff-on-patient “sexual safety incidents” were noted at the Whinney Heys Road hospital in 2023/24

Blackpool charity share how they've organised trips out for those within the hotel - as one of the town's two MPs calls for the government to stop using the Metropole Hotel

Wyre Council said sampling was set to get underway next week to consider whether historic contamination has occurred from Hillhouse Technology Enterprise Zone

Four men previously arrested on suspicion of assault have now been arrested on suspicion of murder

Webb believes more appropriate accommodation than the hotel chain named worst in the UK for 11 consecutive years should be found

The scheme is set to see four courts, changing rooms and a spectator area built at South Shore Tennis Club 

Blackpool Council wants the town to be the UK’s Coastal Capital of Creativity by 2030

Jim Barnes, 70, was well-known in Blackpool and lived in Thornton-Cleveleys

Blackpool Council has issued an alert after a number of motorists fell foul of the parking scam

Developers are now hoping to build a block of 23 holiday apartments on the site with retail on the ground floor 

It was one of a number of failings found during a High Court hearing into the care of the child - known as ABJ - and his mother in a case dating back to 2008

Bought by Blackpool Council as part of a private collection, the new Showtown museum collection includes a photograph and flyer from the 1920s showing the offensive practice of 'blacking up'.

The town’s new NHS boss has told of staff fearing going to work during recent violence.

Help us keep bringing underreported stories to Blackpool and continue our weekly newsletter.

Glen Young, 22, was arrested in Fleetwood during Tuesday 10 September

It was set to be axed by the end of September

Mali Wright to spend nine years in prison for the manslaughter of Daniel Allsop. He set upon him in Bethesda Road in October last year. Allsop died from his injuries 48-hours later.

"I would never do anything to make my constituents poorer" says the Labour MP - as the government's plan to remove the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners is approved. Blackpool North & Fleetwood MP, Lorraine Beavers, also gives her view on the threshold set.

Police say Glen Young now in custody and they are appealing to trace 21-year-old Morgan Spencer wanted for violent disorder

Heat pumps will aim to help inspire people to do the same with their own homes

An early day motion has been signed by Webb which calls on the government to re-consider its proposal to slash the number of pensioners receiving the annual payment - it comes ahead of a vote on Tuesday evening with Labour facing a revolt.

Joshua Tickner, 21, was one of four men sought by police in connection with violent disorder in the town centre

Described as a 'never event' the Vic's midwifery service is facing a probe by care bosses over what took place in July
 

Mr Webb highlighted the need for investment in Waterloo Road and Bond Street in South Shore

The group represents the usual number of trainee doctors who regularly join the hospital

Earlier this week police asked for the public's help in finding four men connected with the 3 August violence and thuggery

Councillors, who backed the scheme unanimously, said the investment would be of huge benefit to the town 

Eat Indian, on Church Street, was hit with a zero hygiene rating and forced to close temporarily to implement improvements

Coun Galley, Conservative group leader, had blamed the transfer of key roles to the private sector for the delays

Marc Thomas has been embroiled in a tussle with VW Financial Services after his details were mixed up with another customer

A £450,000 project to restore and repair The Grand in Church Street is up and running

Police want to speak with (pictured left-right) Josh Tickner, Thomas Whittaker, Morgan Spencer and Glen Young

Paul Faulkner is the local democracy reporter for central Lancashire. 

Mystery still surrounds the reason for the 13-month delay in burying the infant

Sarah Smith resigned from her position as Labour councillor after being elected on 4 July

Police were called to the Morrisons at Squires Gate during Friday - and despite efforts to save the man he died at Blackpool Vic the same day

Located on The Esplanade in Fleetwood there's ambitious proposals for someone to live within the former radar base

A new 12 service, the 1A bus scrapped and service 18 being extended to the Blackpool Enterprise Zone. Plus a number of services to visit Blackpool Victoria Hospital more often.

Bodycam footage shows the brave and quick-thinking actions of PC Nelson as he pulls the woman to safety during the Ride The Lights event

Only buses, taxis and other authorised vehicles such as emergency vehicles will be allowed to travel through the busy Blackpool area

It would generate enough power to enable Blackpool Council to reduce its overall net electricity consumption by up to 75 per cent.

Some, but not all, in Blackpool chose to respond to a wicked act in Southport with violence instead of support. But the search for answers as to why isn't straightforward

Cherry Property Investment Ltd had appealed after a retrospective planning application to use ground floor premises on Harrowside in South Shore was refused

Planning inspector throws out appeal over concerns regarding how much it would contribute to local housing targets

Claremont Park Community Centre has seen £200,000 invested in the building which was converted from being a library in 2004

Council bosses are confident Levelling Up funding is safe but minutes from a Town Deal meeting suggests there is a risk due to deadlines on spending the money

Fifth phase of the Talbot Gateway scheme is due to get the green-light from the town's planning committee

Blackpool Council has installed additional temporary barriers on the Promenade.

BBC Local Democracy Reporter covering Wyre Borough Council

The track was extended up Talbot Road to link North Pier with North Station following a £100m investment in the tramway system 

The cash will be loaned to the venue by the council from its business loans fund in order to repair electrical infrastructure

Shelagh is the local democracy reporter for Blackpool.

Alan Murphy, 62, was jailed after police uncovered homemade explosive devices in a rucksack which caused nearby streets to be evacuated while the bomb squad went to work

Some 56 applications had been received by the time the original four-week window closed earlier this year, but 40 were refused “for various reasons”

A new weather warning from the Met Office warns to expect disruption as a result of Storm Lilian

Sister of 27-year-old, who was found dead in Gorton Street last week, has paid tribute and asked for help towards funeral costs.

Hook (pictured left) and Stewart (right) have both been jailed for 27 months for their part in the 3 August disorder. 

All the info you need from parking, route, length, safety information and more as the annual cycling route runs the length of the Prom

The space, at Layton Library in Blackpool, will be officially opened tomorrow (21 August)

Ethan Miles, 21, has been jailed for 30 months for his part in the events of 3 August

133 new social properties have been finished in a £20million scheme

Blackpool Police have made two arrests after the officer was filmed trying to restrain a robbery suspect in an alleyway in Chesterfield Road

Roger Haywood, who was described as a ringleader, was sent to prison for a total of 30 months.

Police cordoned off Gorton Street this morning after the body of a young woman was found

Emergency services are at the scene of the incident on Gorton Street in Blackpool

Giving the heavily pregnant mother the drug was proved to be negligent - but it was deemed insufficient to prove a connection between the negligience and complications suffered during birth

The owners of the hotel said they were disappointed Blackpool Council had pursued prosecution - despite repeated issues at the business

Blackpool Council says it is halting any angling on the lake in the park after increasing concerns raised by wildlife charities and park-goers. Warning: This article contains images some readers may find distressing.

Regeneration of Blackpool Airport - as part of Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone plans - continues but any plans for commercial flights remain in the background

PC Ashley Aspinall is back on the frontline in the town. He spent 11 days in hospital and needed treatment for four months after Ian Scott assaulted him both physically and verbally. Warning: Contains video and images some readers may find distressing.

Daniel Stewart and Andrew Hook have both been charged after disorder in Blackpool

Belle's situation has triggered a review into the lack of wheelchair-friendly taxis available in Blackpool

Ethan Miles and Peter Waite the latest to be charged after disorder in Blackpool

Adam O'Brien, Michael Dunham and Shane Rhodes all appeared in court as Lancashire Constabulary continued their crackdown after disorder over the last seven days

The Lead speaks to three asylum seeking and refugee women about their experiences of the violence seen across the country in the past week.

John Robinson, Karl Thompson and Daniel Benson have been charged after disorder in Blackpool. New charges have been brought against Roger Haywood

Anti-immigrant rhetoric isn’t acceptable in any form. Ceding ground on this issue sets a ticking time bomb.

Patrick Hurley MP backs our open letter calling for support for Southport

Police said they are making every effort to identify those involved - but need help from the public

Any later excitement extended only to a small group of men and youths waving a St George's flag - upside down - from a roundabout 

Police want to speak with the man in the images after another man was left in hospital

Questions asked over safety following incident at Blackpool Central Pier on Tuesday. Image: Blackpool's Voice

“If there are outbreaks of disorder, we will robustly investigate any offences committed to ensure those responsible are brought to justice."

Roger Haywood, Ben Smith and Tyla Chalmers-Millington will all be sentenced in September

Police have released details of charges to three men in Blackpool after town centre disorder from the far-right

The former actor was seen on a Ryanair flight to Cork on Saturday, 3 August as the Prime Minister slammed far-right activists "whipping up action" and "running away".

Police give update after 20 arrests were made in Blackpool following disorder in the town centre during Saturday afternoon as protests took place across the UK. Those arrested are 'local to Lancashire'.

Far-right group and anti-racism campaigners clashed in the town as Lancashire Police say 20 arrests made across the county

“Thugs (and) racists not welcome” banners welcome handful of protest group amid heavy police presence

This is not a problem we can simply police our way out of. Among the top priorities: reverse austerity, to undermine fascism's economic breeding grounds; and take back the narrative on immigration. 

From rioters to ministers, the far right has long wooed British Jews for its own ends. It’s time to see it for what it really is.

Em Hilton is a Jewish organiser and writer based in London, and co-founder of Na’amod: UK Jews against Israeli occupation and apartheid. 

For years, the extreme right and its legitimisers picked off minorities one by one. Now they're unveiling a wider war. 

Residents living in some of the 72 properties set to be demolished speak with The Blackpool Lead about the harsh reality of the challenges they face as a direct result of the Multiversity project

This morning, my neighbours and I are working to put our streets back together. The far-right scum who inflicted this damage and misery are long gone, without a thought for the impact of what they did.

Kamala Harris is changing American rhetoric on the Gaza war - and Keir Starmer is actually taking action. 

The UK’s first drug checking service will prove invaluable in protecting people from drug-related harms.

Hundreds of thousands of adoptees and their family members lack vital health history - as even NHS numbers are changed after adoption. 

The owner of the site, in Bispham, has blamed Blackpool Council, the government and United Utilities. But many of their claims are contentious

Peatlands are disappearing at an alarming rate - so Pestfurlong Moss has enormous importance in our eco-system.

The Lead is a micro-mag - a lean, mean site on politics, culture, and everything in between. 

Police said they want to see the update put an end to speculation and uncertainty

Labour's first King's Speech in 14 years is a swell of sensible policy, with two glaring exceptions: the retention of the two-child benefit cap and yet another criminalisation rush. 

A Nepalese mother was arrested in an NHS hospital because staff mistook a common birthmark for child abuse. Structural racism in medicine needs to end, and only structural upheaval can end it.

“Please allow us respect as a family to grieve in peace and refrain from any further speculation on social media and to refrain from posting further pictures of Danielle and her family..."

The killer virus that thrived on health inequalities flourished in Tory-led Britain.

Professor Partha Kar is the NHS national speciality advisor on Diabetes and a leader in the use of technology to manage and treat Type 1 Diabetes.

A few years back, the narrative was that we didn’t have enough doctors; now, we have doctors out of work. Meanwhile, there is a plan to boost the physician associate workforce from 1,000 to 10,000 in a matter of years.

There are many success stories to come from Accrington Stanley Women - a club that still operates independently from the men's team

Women and children are choosing to be reunited with their families in a war zone rather than be without them in the safety of the UK. 
 

"Unusually I have been undertaking this whilst bringing my 4-month old son Elijah with me..."

“It’s just a disgusting way to treat the river,” Pete said. “It was here first before us, it’s disgusting.” 

A community waits for news on the two children caught up in the house fire in Blackpool

Sarah Smith is the Labour MP for Hyndburn & Haslingden. 

A woman in her 20s was found dead at the scene and a man was pronounced dead at Blackpool Victoria Hospital

Rich Booth is a freelance journalist who has worked across Europe as a news reporter. He was previously news editor at The Independent and an editor in the South West of England. He specialises in live news, travel and climate reporting.

The Conservative government leaves behind a shocking legacy of river pollution. Between warming waters, bacteria and sewage discharges, it's not clear if the communities on the waterways have a future. 

Splits on Labour’s left flank could spell trouble for the government.

The idea that East Lancashire is lacking in culture just isn't true - and that's especially the case across Hyndburn

Culture Warrington's community engagement approach is genuine - and for that reason, it's getting results

Experts from the University of Salford, drafted in to inspect the area, found evidence of 'low-level occupation of the landscape'

The issue of digital exclusion is growing in Altrincham and the wider UK - despite the area not having the highest levels of deprivation in Greater Manchester.

How the nation’s long love affair with police stories continues to shape our relationship with policing today.

The deputy prime minister understands frontline services better than most of us.

Alongside promises of stability, Keir Starmer has also pledged a “bigger reset”. Everyone on the Left should support this - and to hold him to account if he falls short. 

The number of people living in poverty aged between 60 and pension age has tripled since 2010.

All three seats for Stoke-on-Trent flipped from Conservative to Labour

Reform UK were projected to win Hartlepool at 10pm - but that did not play out

A comfortable night for Labour in Warrington, returning two MPs 

The constituency, in various forms, has returned a Conservative MP for the last 101 years

In a battle that focused on local credentials, the national picture ultimately proved decisive

All three seats in Bolton returned a Labour MP in the 2024 General Election

Chris Webb and Lorraine Beavers are Blackpool's new MPs

Join The Lead for our election night coverage with correspondents in the North of England and our national editors and Westminster Editors in London, plus contributions from our correspondents and writers throughout Thursday 4 July into Friday 5 July.

Paul McNamee is the Director of Labour Climate and Environment Forum. Most recently, he worked in the Mayor’s Office at the Greater London Authority, advising on environment and energy, covering the Ultra Low Emission Zone expansion and the Mayor’s presence at COP27.

It is vital that the green transition brings workers, communities, and individuals together to create a sustainable and inclusive economy.

Mark Butcher admitted to using technology to reply to comments on Facebook for speed purposes, but denied using ChatGPT.

Starmer has promised no return to austerity politics, but that commitment alone is not enough to heal the problem. 

Performative presenteeism does not make a good worker, or a good prime minister. Just take Rishi Sunak - what has he actually accomplished with all the overtime he is so proud of? 

After fourteen years of catastrophic Conservative misrule, we need a radical change of direction. Ironically, this can only happen if a mega-landslide gives this moderate Labour a cart-blanche to govern much more ambitiously than they campaign - and if the Right is consigned to electoral irrelevance. 

Left alone for days, denied education and refused visitation rights for years: pandemic lockdowns revealed so many flaws in young offenders institutions that experts are calling for entire system to be rethought. 

A mum-of-three was hit with a Section 21 eviction notice after informing her landlord of issues with her home - Shelagh Parkinson reports from the hustings event organised by The Blackpool Lead and Blackpool Gazette

Bolton West is the Conservatives’ most secure seat in Greater Manchester - but YouGov has them losing

Polling firm YouGov has Labour down to win all of the Teesside seats, with a share of the vote ranging from 39% in Stockton West to 52% in Stockton North

Omasan and his business have been by Blackpool’s ambitious development projects, which have delivered blow after blow to his trade

The aim is to turn Great Harwood into a town that rivals, or betters, Clitheroe, Whalley and Skipton as a place for people to visit

Warrington is a town of reconciliation and community. But its seems even this town cannot forgive 14 years of Tory misrule 

The land will reportedly soon return back to Trafford Council with time, money and potential completely wasted. 
 

The Charity Commission continues to investigate complaints about a soup kitchen linked to Reform UK candidate Mark Butcher

Housing, immigration and Conservative scandal all topics of discussion at our hustings event in Cleveleys

The Lead publishes in Warrington, Altrincham & Sale, Hyndburn, Lancashire, Bury, Burnley and Rossendale in print for the first time - with second editions appearing in Blackpool, Teesside, Bolton and Stoke-on-Trent

Including a list of every supermarket you can pick up your free copy of the first ever edition of The Lancashire Lead

The Lancashire Lead is teaming with The Lancashire Post and Blog Preston to give you the chance to quiz the candidates to be your next MP 

Labour’s manifesto suggests it understands how a dysfunctional housing sector destroys lives, but do the party's commitments go far enough?

The teaching profession has been devalued to the point of absurdity, with staff drafted into classrooms with little or sometimes no qualifications.

Diyora Shadijanova is a Senior Editor at The Lead.

Dimi Reider is National Editor at The Lead.

The most toxic man in British politics is likely to play an outsized role as an opposition spokesman in the next parliament. This doesn't make his ideas worth compromising with. 

A US chain is repeatedly going after newly-opened independent eateries that offer smashed burgers - and continues to pursue owners for vast sums even after the businesses close down. 

The Blackpool Lead is teaming up with The Gazette and Shelter Lancashire to host the chance of you to quiz those seeking to be your MP on 4 July

Over the next five years, the cost of maintaining the NHS will inevitably grow with demand. The next government must be willing to spend more to improve it.

Chris Webb is heavy favourite to be re-elected in Blackpool South with a tight contest for second place, while Blackpool North and Cleveleys will see Labour hope to claim the seat from the Conservatives

The last general election saw three Conservative MPs elected in the city for the first time - but that's unlikely to be repeated

Support for the Conservatives is so strong that it hasn't elected a non-Tory in over 100 years but latest YouGov polling suggests a first-ever Labour win is now the most likely outcome for the seat

Sara Britcliffe benefitted from a huge swing from Labour to Conservative in 2019 - but Labour will see it as a key target this time around

Warrington North has returned a Labour MP since it was first established in 1983 - but Warrington South has been split for the majority of that time

A sign of dwindling faith in the Conservative government was Christian Wakeford crossing the floor to become a Labour MP in 2022

Hirra Khan Adeogun is co-director of climate change charity Possible and formerly headed up their Car Free Cities programme, where she was a key campaigner for London’s ULEZ expansion. She is passionate about designing anti-oppressive and sustainable futures, and regularly shares her expertise with the public including in The Guardian and gal-dem. 

Transport is the UK's largest emitting sector of greenhouse gases, and private cars are the single biggest contributors.

Hannah Hiles is a freelance journalist and writer based in Stoke-on-Trent, with a strong interest in heritage, regeneration and culture. She is a former senior journalist at The Sentinel/ Stoke-on-Trent Live and the Birmingham Mail, and has also worked in communications for Keele University and Ceramics UK. 

Rachel is an experienced journalist and editor who has worked for titles across the North West, and written on a freelance basis for several national titles. She is also a journalism lecturer at The University of Salford. 

 A Labour government, a Lib Dem opposition, and Tories consigned to irrelevance: It can be done - but only if enough Millennials and Gen Zs register by midnight. Zoë Grünewald and Dimi Reider explain. 

Six of the ten candidates standing to be MP in the city appeared before a crowd of 100 people from across the city's communities with healthcare, education and more on the agenda.

The council is in £1.8bn worth of debt following a series of high-risk investments and Conservative austerity measures.

With most of the 2024 election manifestos out, here’s our quick recap of what the major political parties are offering.

As it stands, voting for the winners of Love Island or Strictly Come Dancing is more democratic than voting for politicians who decide how to save the NHS, how many houses we build, or how to tackle the climate crisis.

Case numbers at the hospital are high compared to other trusts, but the trust says it is a reflection of the importance it places on people feeling they can speak up
 

Warrington Council has been forced into unconventional investments as a result of austerity - and not all have been as successful as their focus on renewable energy

Blackpool Victoria Hospital has been at the centre of several scandals in recent years and many of these are still playing out

Trafford is known for its stronghold of grammar schools and its high educational standards mean its attractive to parents. But as people flood to the area for schools, children in Altrincham and Sale are being left without a place. 
 

Two police staff at Lancashire Constabulary have been jailed while a third was given a suspended sentence

The availability of these books has been highlighted in at least two deaths in the past year, both taking place after the passage of the 2023 Online Safety Bill.

The 28-day move-on period was designed to make the refugee settlement process as hostile and unpleasant as possible to “deter” future arrivals.

The general election is quickly approaching, so let's get organised - use our tool to see who the candidates are near you and which constituency you're in

Ten fire crews have been tackling a large-scale fire which has ripped through the former civil service building in North Shore

With almost 70% of the workforce out of jobs, writers, producers and actors cling to hope that the industry will stabilise.

Sam Bright is an investigative journalist and the author of two books: Fortress London: Why We Need to Save the Country from its Capital, and Bullingdon Club Britain: The Ransacking of a Nation.

Precarity and insecurity define this election. A leader who understands public services has never been more important.

The UK’s participation in the Erasmus programme was one of the fatalities of Brexit. It didn't have to be.

A wave of trendy bars, cafes and restaurants serving authentic Hong Kong street food, craft beer and bubble tea are a welcome addition to cultural life in Altrincham and Sale. But the story behind the diversification of the towns is one of persecution, fear and personal struggle for the Hongkongers who have settled here in large numbers.

John Singleton had a history of self harm but prison officers failed to sound the alarm promptly when he barricaded himself into his room and wouldn’t respond to calls. The 46 year old’s death is one of three that reveal a concerning pattern at HMP Risley.  

The power of women sharing their experiences, with The Blackpool Lead, has led to coverage across national newspapers and radio this week

The fight to be MP for Hyndburn & Haslingden is straightforward according to the polls - but both candidates have moved to stress their local credentials

A warning at Blackpool North is expected to advise against swimming for the remainder of the 2024 bathing season. So why is the boss of water firm United Utilities in a position as an ambassador for the town?
 

A clean energy transition is crucial, but other environmental issues press on. 

Physician associates were brought in to ‘cut NHS waiting lists’, but doctors say they put patients at risk and increase workloads.

Campaigners worry women seeking asylum are being harmed and wrongly refused claims for protection.

From Henri Cartier-Bresson, to Don McCullin, Martin Parr and Shirley Baker, photographers have been drawn to Blackpool for the best part of the last century. But a cohort of local photographers are also documenting the town with an insider's view

Just eight were sleeping rough in Hyndburn according to an official count in the autumn. But what about those that no one notices? The Hyndburn Lead visits a woodland in Oswaldtwistle where people have been increasingly living in tents after failing to get the help they desperately need.

Eight cooling towers were behemoths on the horizon that signalled the arrival home for Warringtonians for decades. Now, with four of them lost and the demolition of those remaining not far behind, we look at the past and the future of the site and hear from those fighting to save at least one of Fiddler’s Ferry’s famous towers

Inquest, a charity concerned with state related deaths, said there is a culture of complacency at the Priory Group - and that public money should not be used to fund private provision

Chris Webb met with Uber after using his first question in the House of Commons as the new MP for Blackpool South to question the company's lack of operating licence

Former candidate, and MP for the area, Graham Jones had his suspension lifted but was not chosen as candidate for The Labour Party

Webb joined Stanton and Novelty, a third generation rock manufacturer in Blackpool South, to see the skill that goes into production

Calls for a national service programme may win the Conservatives a handful of votes in July – at the cost of alienating an entire generation in the years to come.

Amal Bose has been charged by Lancashire Constabulary after allegations by members of staff at the hospital

Ostensibly, these people are detained to be deported. In truth, they are held because Sunak believes that publicly showing people being taken from their homes in handcuffs and loaded into vans makes for effective campaign footage.

Labour's cautious campaigning is likely to pay off for Keir Starmer. But his first term must be ten times bolder once in power.

As the long-standing Sir Graham Brady prepares to step down at the general election on 4 July - Labour's candidate has suddenly withdrawn from the fight. Where does this leave the race?

“Letterpress printing, typography, etching, sign writing, fairground art, which is close to my heart being in Blackpool –  all the skills that I love and have been working with throughout my career are now on the Red List.”
 

The town in East Lancashire is being left divided by the EG Group founders, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, proposal to create 35,000 burial plots across the 84-hectare site

“There are 10,000 people in the Sale Moor ward and half of them lead affluent lives. But there’s another half of the community who live around or below the poverty line. Those below the poverty line are split between pensioner poverty and family poverty." 

A fixture of the Hyndburn calendar returns for the 155th time during the Bank Holiday weekend, inside what it takes to make The Great Harwood Agricultural Show a reality

The Warrington Lead launches next week with the first edition landing in inboxes as part of The Lead's northern expansion and 10,000 newspapers delivered for free

On Wednesdays and Sundays, authored by Jamie Lopez, The Lancashire Lead takes a deep look at what's happening in every corner of the county

The Blackpool North MP was investigated for 'improper use of a printer'. He's paid back what he owes, but with a general election imminent it shows 'survival mode' is being switched on.

Recently-elected Chris Webb says he will take the petition to Westminster and ensure Defra look to act as rock producers face a cliff-edge

My father was given a transfusion infected with HIV—and within five years he, my mother and my baby sister were dead. Those responsible and those complicit must all be held accountable.

Nathaniel Cole is a Co-Founder of Swim Dem Crew. He is a writer, researcher and workshop facilitator working across masculinity and RSE for young people.

With millions of hours of sewage still being discharged into rivers and onto our coasts, announcing 27 wild swimming spots feels like papering over the cracks of a deeply broken system. 

Ahead of the inquiry report next week, The Greater Manchester Mayor and longtime campaigner for victims of the scandal says the "typical Whitehall reaction" of delaying action for fear of consequences has cost lives, and calls for a "duty of candour" for civil servants. 

The government claims it wants to prevent children from safely acquiring knowledge about sex until they are "ready" for it. Abusers will have no such scruples. 

Eleanor is a writer, poet and creative, who has lived in Liverpool for over ten years, where she spent time working within the homeless sector and researching the sex industry. She recently launched an exhibition raising awareness about child criminal exploitation in Blackpool. Most of her work explores themes around poverty and social mobility. 

Sam Rushby has campaigned for justice following the deaths of his father, mother and sister during the contaminated blood scandal. He is happily married and lives with his wife and two children. 

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) launched an investigation after complaints were made by Milly Skriczka, a member of the local party association. This part of the investigation has closed - but Maynard could yet face further action.

The housing crisis is putting thousands of people at risk of sexual exploitation as they struggle to pay spiralling rents.

The transformation of Accrington Market, with an aim of modernising what it can offer, has had a mixed response. Flood water has not helped...

Residential Management Group, who manage the property, said the sympathise with Natasha Freedman - who pulled herself up the stairs instead.

Trafford’s grammar schools are the pride of the region. But despite the opportunities they provide, their existence creates an inescapable two-tier system that impacts the entire community. 

The Blackpool Lead launches campaign for Blackpool rock to be granted protected status in line with its importance to the town. Eight factories have closed - only nine remain. 

Help keep The Lead's journalism independent and ad-free through a regular or one-off contribution and by buying our (sustainably-made) merchandise.

The horrors of poor maternal care are compounded by how little we Brits are told about the raw realities and risks of birth. Why was I taught more about plants' reproductive systems than my own? 

Starmer's speech on Friday is further proof Labour would, actually, be an improvement over the Tories - but in its current form, these changes should only the the beginning of much deeper asylum reform. 

Racial disparities in dementia treatment are killing Black and Asian people who die earlier as symptoms are missed and diagnosis comes too late.

As we bring you the news of four British victims serving Tate with civil proceedings at his compound in Romania, we take a look back at the controversies and allegations that have led us to this moment.  

Our magazine's newsroom team has expanded yet again with a Westminster Editor, a new Senior Editor and an Audience Engagement Editor, respectively. Grünewald moves over from The Independent's lobby team, Shadijanova held senior roles in gal-dem. Race has overseen spike in followers and interactions since joining in March. 

Documents obtained by The Blackpool Lead show Blackpool Council is in an ongoing dispute with a contractor on the project.

Hyndburn Towpath Taskforce help keep the Leeds-Liverpool canal glowing - and May marks five years since they've been doing their work
 

New Blackpool South MP Chris Webb writes exclusively for The Blackpool Lead about his goal to make a difference in the town he calls home

Chris Webb is the Labour MP for Blackpool South. 

With a steady 20-point lead, Labour should be comfortable turning down defectors who risk muddying the party's core values and contaminating it with Tory sleaze. "The effect is cumulative," warns one MP. 

Suella Braverman can rant all she likes: The anti-immigration blitz failed to save Conservative seats in the local elections, and won't work in the general election either. Labour can now afford to go on the attack - rejecting the very premise of immigration as a threat, and focusing on what people really want: a hopeful, positive, inspiring vision for the future. 

Michael is an award-winning journalist living near Blackpool whose previous roles include investigative reporter, news editor and production editor in the regional and national media

Bailiffs serve influencer with British lawsuit at Bucharest compound - Despite women alleging multiple rapes, beatings, and lifelong psychiatric injuries, English law could cap compensation at sum worth than a single one of Tate's sports cars - Crowdfunder launched to support costly litigation as Crown Prosecution fails to act

They have the power to make Teesside the heart of a new green industrial revolution, according to proponents of carbon capture and small nuclear reactors. But critics say they’re expensive and unproven, and an excuse to keep drilling for fossil fuels

Organisers and volunteers for Reclaim Blackpool, a project to physically map instances of harassment towards women and girls, know that the Young Farmers DIY AGM will be one of the worst weekends of the year for women. The only justification for allowing it isn't good enough, they argue

On the same day Labour regained overall control of Hyndburn Council, a former Conservative candidate for the same authority was found guilty of electoral fraud

Zoë Grünewald is Westminster Editor at The Lead and a freelance political journalist and broadcaster. She has worked in and around Westminster for five years, starting her career as a parliamentary clerk before throwing away the wig and entering journalism. Zoë then worked as a policy and politics reporter at the New Statesman, before joining the Independent as a political correspondent. When not writing about politics and policy, she is a regular commentator on TV and radio and a panellist on the Oh God What Now podcast.  

The Altrincham & Sale Lead launches next week with the first edition landing in inboxes as part of The Lead's northern expansion and 10,000 newspapers delivered for free

Voting behaviour varied wildly from one place to the next, but there's one thing that was constant: the feeling that the sooner Rishi Sunak goes to the people, the better. Our National and North editors offer their view on the results. 

The Conservative MP - whose father lost his seat and admitted to being bitterly disappointed - said the local election results likely indicate a real 'battle' to remain in post at the general election

Liam is a young reporter from East Lancashire who writes for The Hyndburn Lead, Lancashire Telegraph and The Bolton News. 

Asked by reporters why he wasn’t wearing a blue rosette, Lord Houchen claimed he “forgot” to wear one.

No change in control of Bolton - but plenty of isolated drama, and the Green Party winning its first ever seat

Much of the conversation on the night centred around whether Reform could take second place - they couldn't

The government's legal obligations to disabled people's rights are patchy, allowing for years of violent political, rhetorical and bureaucratic abuse. There's a ready-made charter that can protect us - and it should be adapted into law. 

CCTV and motion sensors are becoming more common in primary and secondary schools - the aim is to improve behaviour, but the cost is a worrying slide towards privacy infringements. 

From answering machines in the 90s to the iconic WhatsApp voice notes of recent years, UK rappers have always used recorded messages to forge connection, intimacy and reveal their inner depths.

Diyora is a multimedia journalist, writer, and editor based in London. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, VICE, The Independent, DAZED, Huck Magazine, THE FACE, and more. She was previously the climate editor and, before that, the opinion editor at gal-dem magazine. She is the co-founder of hothouse book club, a digital and IRL book club that champions a climate justice perspective.

London Mayoral candidate Susan Hall vows to scrap ULEZ on day one. Under her rule, the capital’s green and public health credentials would be under grave threat, and a question mark would loom over child poverty and affordable housing. 

Our first edition has seen 10,000 copies distributed across the city and dive into the issues affecting all parts of Stoke-on-Trent

All the information you might need - or indeed find out if there is an election you can vote in on Thursday 2 May as local elections of many kinds take place across England and Wales.

The bill has damaged the relationship between the justice system and government; it has created a new form of legislation designed to bypass reality itself.

Packed with in-depth reporting on Bolton issues and the best of our national newsletter stories there’s a brand new voice for the town and borough

The sculpture, made of the same material as the Angel of the North to give it a rusty brown colour, will sit in the newly-renovated Accrington Pals Memorial Garden

Bolton elects one third of the council each year, with a rest year every four years, and Labour will be hoping to reclaim control

There are 21 seats up for grabs in Bolton’s local elections on 2 May - but all parties will be ultimately trying to deliver a reasonable service on 'totally savage' budget cuts

Scott Benton finally stood down after a recall petition was called - meaning the national spotlight will again be on Blackpool as it goes to the polls on 2 May

Both Amazing Graze and Mark Butcher, the Reform UK candidate in the Blackpool South by-election, have defended themselves against the complaint

Panicked bluster and inaccurate generalities. We read the bizarre AI-generated rip-offs of Liz Truss’s new book - Ten Years to Save the West - so you don’t have to. 
 

Packed with in-depth reporting on Teesside issues and the best of our national newsletter stories there’s a brand new voice for the region

The council has had no overall control since six councillors quit in 2021 - but that could change on 2 May

Saltburn-by-the-Sea has had something of a renaissance in recent years after decades of decline mirrored at seaside resorts - but it hasn't escaped the national scandal of raw sewage discharges from storm overflows

Thank you for showing your support. 

Oliver Franklin-Wallis is an award-winning magazine journalist, whose writing has appeared in GQ, WIRED, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Times Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Economist’s 1843 magazine, and many other publications. He is currently the Features Editor of British GQ. Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes and Why It Matters is his first book.

When we throw things ‘away’, what does that actually mean? In his highly acclaimed book Wasteland - which was published in paperback in April - journalist Oliver Franklin-Wallis takes us on an eye-opening journey through the global waste industry.

The stench of rotting egg can be smelt for miles and is causing serious health problems. Local people want to know what's in the Bury dump, why those in charge have been allowed to break the law and the long-term implications. 

 Tories' attempts to drag down Labour deputy leader barely register over gushing torrent of sleaze from their own MPs.

A third Fylde Coast MP is mired in political scandal, leaving the entire area with uncertain representation. The people deserve so much better than this.

The Blackpool Lead teamed up with the Blackpool Gazette to host a hustings ahead of the Blackpool South by-election on 2 May

1.4 million workers in the UK are living in a constant state of economic “double jeopardy”. Millennials are the most likely to find themselves in this situation - but precarity is not something we can afford to tolerate as a fact of life.

Ammaarah is a writer, educator and organiser. She writes about topics relating to gender, racial and reproductive justice.

Chris McEwan, Ben Houchen and Simon Thorley are all looking to be elected as Tees Valley Mayor on 2 May

Pregnant people of colour are far more likely to experience abuse, trauma and death during and after childbirth. Even the doula sector is overwhelmingly white - but some professionals are pushing against the grain. 

Jessie (she/her) is the Director of The Democracy Network, a membership organisation seeking to renew UK democracy, so people have more influence over the decisions that affect our lives, more power and resources to improve our communities and more ability to elect and hold our politicians and governments to account. She started her career as founder and then CEO of the award winning A Way Out, a women and young people’s charity.

64% of Teesside's voting public abstained from exercising their democratic right in the 2021 Tees Valley mayoral elections. Jessie Joe Jacobs, director of The Democracy Network, who was on the losing side of the vote in 2021, explains why that hurt more than the defeat

Anthony Williams, a prominent voice in the campaign for Windrush justice, has died in Jamaica after losing faith in the government of the country he once served.

Wes Streeting pledged to implement the Cass Report recommendations wholesale. What does that mean? Depends on how you read the report. 

Hosted by The Blackpool Lead and The Gazette the debate will see candidates make their case and take questions on all things Blackpool

Lead Editor (North), Ed is an experienced senior editor with more than 15 years experience in UK regional publishing.

The inane attempt to prosecute people caring for their disabled loved ones - for unwittingly receiving slightly larger benefits, thanks to an admin glitch - is proof there is no hope for the Department. Once in power, Labour must close the DWP, restaff it top to bottom, and relaunch it under a new name. 

"It takes more than a few projects to address what are deep structural economic and social problems."

B&Bs and guesthouses, old hotels, new hotels and areas left to ruin - Blackpool saw record tourism in 2023, but that doesn't mean traditional businesses aren't jostling for survival

The Lead will be launching in Hyndburn, Warrington and Altrincham & Sale as part of a second wave of new local newsletters and newspapers. 
 

Frances was the launch editor for Cheshire Live and spent time as a senior editor at the Stoke Sentinel and StaffordshireLive. She has also worked as a freelance reporter for Big Issue and culture magazine The Skinny. 

A multi-million pound environmental project on the Tees Estuary aims to tackle rising flood risks, boost biodiversity and support the area’s economy – but can it restore the faith of the local community? 

Sally Bunce has withdrawn from the race to be Tees Valley Mayor, citing a desire to prevent Ben Houchen securing a third term

The UK Council for Psychotherapy was an early signatory of the professional ban on conversion therapy.  Last weekend, it withdrew from the professional memorandum against the practice - and has been working to legitimise a version of conversion therapy since late last year. 

As momentum builds toward a regional war and IDF discipline is showing signs of collapse, it's obvious that prolongation equals escalation. 

Within weeks of Russia invading Ukraine, a fast-track visa scheme was set up in Britain, allowing 74,000 Ukranians to flee the war zone. Since the war in Gaza began, only 270 Palestinians from Gaza were welcomed in the UK. A new campaign aims to change that before it's too late. 

Britain’s boating community once moved according to the season; now, they are being forced from our rivers and canals by extortionate charges. 

Jenni Ratcliffe is an emotive nature and travel writer living as a nomadic boater on the UK waterways system. 

Jennifer Sizeland is a journalist, writer and former assistant producer. She writes about the media industry, mental health, women’s health, the environment, sustainable travel and parenting.

Stoke’s factories and collieries are a reminder of the redundancy that many men have experienced and still feel. 

A landlord has been served a hazard awareness notice after The Blackpool Lead shared photos of Jade’s mouldy home with the council. But it's a problem in every one of the town’s 18,000 privately rented houses.

3,700 stately homes are being preserved for the nation - but the heritage of the people who actually built the country is being allowed to crumble. Applying for dedicated funding schemes requires expensive expertise, and one in eight applications is rejected. 

The Hyndburn Lead launches soon with the first edition landing in inboxes as part of The Lead's northern expansion and 10,000 newspapers delivered for free

Government hostility toward refugees and asylum seekers plays out in the local community, says Matthew Storey, councillor for Middlesbrough Central.

Middlesbrough is one of five local authorities with the highest proportion of neighbourhoods among the most deprived in England

Daisy Steinhardt is a Bristol-based freelance journalist, interested in human rights and cinema. 

Most reflections in the public sphere this weekend centre on the protagonist of the Easter story - on Jesus. But in 2024 Conservative Britain, Pontius Pilate appears to be the more emulated man. The machinations surrounding the Bibbi Stockholm barge are a case in point. 

The Mayor of Portland is taking the government to court for mooring the Bibby Stockholm in her town without permission. The government's reply is that the barge is actually on Crown land - all seabed 12 miles out from any British coast. We went to the opening hearing to find out more.  

Six Labour MPs have been trying for months to get on board the Bibby Stockholm to check the disturbing reports smuggled out by residents. They are being repeatedly denied.

The Talbot social club admits it was due to host the two day event that was cancelled following an investigation into the gig promoter behind it

The recent by-election in Rochdale, won not by Labour or Conservative but George Galloway, raised questions about whether the Gaza vote could impact broader election outcomes

When 500 terraced houses in Hanley were earmarked for demolition it was the community that saved them. Now neighbours, including some who bought the once condemned houses for £1, are regenerating the deprived area from its grassroots. Starting with the local pub...

The Blackpool South by-election follows five others since October where Labour has won Conservative seats. 

Thousands have reported problems since Stoke-on-Trent City Council launched their campaign in November

George Francis Lee is a writer, editor and journalist from the North West. He is a co-founder of STAT Magazine, a non-profit publication focused on left-field art and culture across the North West of England. His work can also be found in The Big Issue, The Independent and The Mill.

Pam, 92, is just the latest example of a quality of service at Royal Mail that the Communication Workers Union say is 'not at an acceptable level' 

Scott Benton's resignation, which comes with a recall petition process already underway, will trigger a by-election for Blackpool South

A new voice for Blackpool as The Blackpool Lead goes into print

Private ownership has been allowed to become synonymous with having the right to feel truly at home at all. A new generation of DIY influencers are bucking the trend, and are making renting - and social housing - appear fulfilling and desirable once again. 

The UK is the first nation to be found in violation of the Convention on the Rights of People With Disabilities, mainly through its abysmal austerity policies. We went to the hearing to see what the Conservative government had to say for itself. 

Precious Adesina is a London-based journalist, radio host and public speaker with a particular focus on the intersection between arts and culture and social politics. She is regularly published in The New York Times, BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, and cultural magazines including Kinfolk, i-D, RA Magazine, and many others.

Black Out nights don't exclude anyone, but create a rare environment where people of colour can enjoy art that speaks directly to their own experience, without feeling like a minority under a judgemental white gaze. A slew of opportunistic culture-war attacks by the Conservatives is putting these precious spaces at risk. 

Aristocrats like the Earl of Bathurst, who wants to charge the public for entry to the historically open park, retain control over a third of British land for one reason: because they agree to behave like stewards rather than landlords. The more entitled they act, the more this implicit social contract will fray. 

Cinema was once an important piece of Blackpool’s allure of affordable glamour, with seventeen movie theatres operating in the town at its peak. Now, almost a year after the final Odeon has gone dark, the local council is opening a nine-screen multiplex of its own. 

The council’s masterplan envisages adding accommodation for 5,000 people to the town centre

“I never thought I had a valid opinion on anything. I thought nobody cared what I thought, but Appetite encouraged me to express myself and see myself as somebody worth listening to.”
 

In the past week, three serious violent crimes against women and girls have been publicly shared by Staffordshire Police

Although the mayor won 2021’s election with 73 per cent of the vote, he’s likely to take his share of the backlash facing the Conservatives nationally come May's election

John Lubbock is journalist and filmmaker concentrating on UK politics and the energy transition.

The Churchill family, dodgy science, dodgier election leaflets, NIMBYs, anti-NIMBYs and Net Zero all converge on a plot "the size of Heathrow" earmarked for enough solar panels to power 300,000 homes. But who is paying for the lobbyist meant to turn Parliament against the project? 

The trailblazing MP was attacked by the Tories and silenced by the Speaker - but her own party has been keeping her in the cold for 11 long months, over hurtful remarks she has retracted long ago.  

From policing to prosecution, this was the British justice system at its most incompetent and culturally confused. 

Eve is a Bristol based freelance writer who specialises in gender, inequality and social justice issues. She has previously written for Madrid No Frills.

Three in four women in Cheltenham report feeling unsafe during the annual races and the accompanying Festival. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk MP and local authorities blame pop-up strip clubs, but are they going after the easy scapegoats? 

Raw sewage was released into open water on the Fylde Coast more than 1,500 times in 2022. The result is Blackpool's hard-fought status as a safe place to swim is in jeopardy.
 

“It’s sad that it’s got a reputation in certain parts of Bolton, a very undeserved reputation” 

Affordable Food Stoke threw away 600 kilos of food that could have been distributed to the community in January - so they're calling for a change to the rules

With the council facing a £15m deficit and popular venues closing there's a tricky future for creatives to navigate

Liv is an art writer, activist and curator based in the North East. She helps cultural organisations promote the work of womxn, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ artists. 

Stoke-on-Trent's identity as both a city and the Six Towns can be confusing for non-Stokies. Here, Sarah, who directs the Six Towns Carnival, examines those identities as the area has changed over the decades

Louisa has worked as a freelance journalist for national publications and as a reporter for the Blackpool Gazette, Lancashire Post and Manchester Evening News. She was born in Blackpool. 

Constituents registered to vote should have received a letter from Blackpool Council on Monday

Charlie Duffield is a freelance news, culture and social affairs journalist and audio producer based in London. She has written for Stylist, Prospect, The Independent, Grazia, The i paper, Metro, and others. 

Sand Dunes are increasingly rare in the UK and ours represent 90 per cent of those in Lancashire. Christmas trees - and hundreds of volunteers - form a vital part of the strategy to keep them alive

Local arts organisations are pushing for culture to be the catalyst for the town’s rebirth

In 2010 Stoke-on-Trent had central government funding of £95 million a year. That’s now £27 million. It lost £270 million as a result. 
 

There is nowhere in the UK where the cost of renting has increased as much as in Bolton

Your information pack for the recall petition that could trigger a by-election, including signing stations, opening times, locations, details on proxy votes and more

People aged 32-50 are part of the "lost generation" - woefully ill-prepared for later life, but unable to do much about it thanks to the cost of living crisis. 

The British-Nigerian historian, author and BAFTA-winning filmmaker on why younger generations are facing a unique convergence of challenges, and why they need more support to build the future of society. 
 

Teesside has among the highest rate of drug-related deaths in England and Wales, but a progressive approach to substance use and a welcoming community has been transformative for many who would otherwise be disenfranchised from society. 

The offer of an hour free parking was removed with shoppers now forced to pay £1.60 for the first hour and £2.20 for each additional hour - and businesses are feeling the impact

With 20% of fostering families leaving the system every year, why are Black and LGBTQ+ families still being deterred from becoming carers?

Sarah is a news and features journalist in the North East specialising in health, people and drug policy. One of the few UK journalists covering the emerging fields of medicinal cannabis and plant-based medicines. 

New data and testimonies suggest shocking levels of sanitary issues in Northern Ireland's few official Traveller sites. But even as the power-sharing government in Stormont returns to work, these communities appear to be no-one's priority. 

The dog whistles - and fog horns - about Muslims in Britain will only get louder as the general election approaches. The murkiness of what does and doesn't amount to Islamophobia is not helping.

Michele Theil is a freelance journalist who writes about race, politics, culture, the internet, and the LGBTQ+ community. 

It's official: we have a two-tier, racist regime where some Britons face far greater penalties than others - and journalists and protesters could be particularly at risk. 

Wayne Couzens - Sarah Everard's killer - was not "one bad apple", but a symptom of widespread rot. People of colour and other minoritised groups have been warning about police failings for decades. 

From a man being tasered to two police officers facing a criminal trial and the end of their careers, this is the story of the six year saga which followed that tumultuous day on the Fylde coast.

At the height of production, Stoke-on-Trent supported 70,000 jobs in the ceramics industry, earning its moniker the Potteries.   
 

“The government has put the small brewing industry in such distress by failing to cut VAT..." - as brewers in and around Bolton innovate and battle for success, at least 100 nationwide have closed and for many - simply surviving is the day-to-day priority

How, and why, Teesside is speaking the language of lithium production.

Sarah is editor and founder of The Northern Eco, focusing on inspiring readers with actionable environmental news from the North of England. She has also worked for The Guardian, Google and the Northern Echo. 

Jamie Lopez is a freelance journalist operating in the North West. He has previous experience at local newspapers and was UK journalism's first ever dedicated regional cost-of-living reporter.

The persistent denial of legal aid to Windrush compensation claimants is just the latest insult added to the injury -making tributes seem even more hollow. 

Following mass deaths of marine life at Teesside Freeport, Darlington and Westminster alike have been been less than forthcoming about what really happened. Are they covering up one disaster - or preparing for another? 

Chris is a freelance writer and translator. He specialises in language, literature, and the intersections of climate and culture.

How landowners have cropped out 'access islands' - isolating thousands of unspoilt natural landmarks across England and Wales - from the rest of the public. 

The South Shore Romany Gypsies were central to the development of Blackpool as a tourist town, but as the town grew they were forced off the land they had occupied for generations. Is enough being done to recognise their contribution? 
 

Hilary Mitchell grew up in poverty in Bolton in the 90s. Here she explores what poverty looked like then - and what it means today

Austerity and deprivation are just two contributing factors for the rise of monkey dust in Stoke-on-Trent - and more needs to be done to tackle these root causes

Artists are pushing sewage into the spotlight, closing the distance between politicians and pollution. Their work - from surfboards made of shit to the sewer transformed into a tropical paradise - reveals how nature, a vital source of inspiration, is being corrupted by greed and apathy.

More questions than answers remain about the cause of the so-called mass crustacean mortality event in Teesside - and there are fears about what this could mean for the future.

Your signature is a valuable step towards supporting MPs to unite in a call for ceasefire.

But petitions are a numbers game.

Gaining timely support is essential for mobilising collective action.

Here are three things you can do right now to hold those in power to account:

1. Whatsapp it to your groups - your friends, your family, your postwork hangout crew. 
3. Tweet it out. And stick the link on Reddit.
2. Post it in your Facebook groups - especially your local ones. 

Thank you for joining us in our effort.

The Lead team

P.S. If you happen to live in Blackpool, Bolton, Stoke-on-Trent or Teeside, subscribe to our brand new local editions.

The war in Gaza has claimed the lives of nearly 30,000 Palestinians and over 1,500 Israelis, and a new escalation appears imminent.

And yet, in this pivotal, urgent moment, UK politicians are using this for domestic political football. Consider the embarrassing acrobatics of the past few months. Tortuous squabbles over “cessation of hostilities” versus “ceasefire” versus “humanitarian pause” versus any other way of saying “stop shooting” - even as the conflict escalates.

I'm writing to you as my Member of Parliament to ask you to support a motion, any motion, calling for a ceasefire in the conflict right now.

The situation is on the verge of spiralling further still. According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli government is preparing to assail the very place to which it had urged Palestinians to evacuate - Rafah. And just across the border, the Guardian reports that Egyptian contractors appear to be building a gigantic refugee camp in preparation for the unspeakable: a mass expulsion of people from their homeland on a scale not seen in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948. The implications for the region, and for the very notion of any red lines for any government anywhere in the world, are almost too terrifying to contemplate.

Imagine what a powerful signal it would send if all parties, the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, DUP, Alliance, SDLP and independents of all stripes renounced the use of this conflict as a political football and supported a motion for a ceasefire and for the complete release of the Israeli hostages. Imagine if they ignored the fact it was moved by a rival party. Imagine if they stopped caring if the SNP, too, was motivated by domestic politics and its own electioneering. Imagine if they ignored whether a particular amendment got through. Imagine if they discarded point-scoring over semantics - humanitarian ceasefire, permanent ceasefire, sustainable ceasefire - and simply said: enough.

Imagine what a signal it would send to the world if our politicians said - this is too urgent for domestic rivalries. We are going to overturn the very way we do politics - for this.

Imagine what it would mean at home and abroad if one of the P5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council united around a simple message: Ceasefire now.

We call on the leaders of all parties and on every MP in the House to set aside partisan factionalism and for a motion calling for the ceasefire, whether their own party amendments are accepted or not.

Jessica Taylor Price is a writer originally from Chicago, IL.

Her bylines have appeared in Bleacher Report, Teen Vogue, ESPNW, and Northeastern Global News. She is currently a freelancer specializing in women’s rights, environmental issues, and literature.

Jess lives in the North East with her husband.

The MP for Blackpool South lost his local party, his Westminster colleagues and his final appeal against suspension, but is resisting all calls to resign. If he wants a recall petition, let's give it to him in spades. 

Our first newsletter from around the River Tees will land on February 21 - sign up below and get our stories, investigations and features for free. 

Hilary is a freelance journalist and editor who grew up in Bolton. She launched Buzzfeed (Scotland) and Edinburgh Live before becoming Head of Audience at PinkNews.

Did we really need the headlines when we can see the economic crisis out the window? 

We hear a lot about the "boomerang generation": people who leave their parental home only to move back in with them. But care leavers like myself often don't have anywhere to boomerang to. Our support system needs to change. 

Your signature is a valuable step towards securing justice and rightful compensation for those affected by the Windrush scandal.

But petitions are a numbers game.

Gaining timely support is essential for placing the petition on the agenda.

Here are three things you can do right now to hold those in power to account. 

1. Whatsapp it to your groups - your friends, your family, your postwork hangout crew
2. Post it in your Facebook groups - especially your local ones. Nextdoor could be a good shout too. 
3. Tweet it out. And stick the link on Reddit. 

Thank you for joining us in our effort.

The Lead team

P.S. If you happen to live in Blackpool, Bolton, Stoke-on-Trent or Teeside, subscribe to our brand new local editions. 

A national Windrush Day, a monument at Waterloo Station, and now an Overground line.

These are perfectly reasonable (if overdue) ways to celebrate the Windrush Generation and their immense contribution to shaping the Britain we know today. 

But against the backdrop of the government’s continued inaction Windrush Scandal, they barely feel like a celebration. In fact, this inaction makes each tribute feel like an excuse - an insult added to an already grievous injury. 

Lives have been upended: families split, jobs and homes lost. Victims were wrongfully imprisoned. Some passed away, or tragically took their own lives. Countless others lost the basic assurance of belonging in their own country and home, a feeling we all have the right to take for granted.

The government's response? Shuffling some ministers around. And leisurely, grudgingly paying out a mere 2,000 of the estimated 15,000 compensation claims. 

Compare this to the same government's response to the Post Office scandal.

Sadiq Khan has long been a consistent champion of justice for the Windrush generation and their descendants. His tribute to that great generation’s impact on London is sincere. But we cannot allow the government to hide behind such tributes. We cannot allow it to exploit public monuments as performative displays - as distractions from what the government actually needs to do. 

And we cannot allow the party that did the damage to drag its feet until the next General Election, as more and more victims despair or pass away.  

We don’t want gestures, we want justice. And we want it now. 

We demand James Cleverly, Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak expedite the compensation process to ensure the remaining claims are paid out - before the party that caused the problem leaves office. 

We demand all payouts are completed by Christmas 2024.

The government has decimated school support for kids with special educational needs - and now it's launched a crass attendance campaign that feels like a direct assault on the parenting skills of already struggling families. 

Jeremy Hunt’s response to the recession news was as tone-deaf and as jarring as asking us to give money to a public service he wouldn’t fund properly.

The decision to house refugees in Blackpool was contentious with local Conservative politicians - here two families from Hong Kong share their experiences and how some of that rhetoric made it more challenging to settle in

Levelling Up was a key part of the Conservative manifesto in 2019 - but spending increasingly limited funds to even compete for investment can be problematic

People in Stoke-on-Trent have been facing the pressure of Conservative-implemented austerity cuts, de-industrialisation and a cost-of-living crisis. But where there is community, there is help available.

Martha is a writer, curator and filmmaker. She is currently working as a freelance journalist for The Lead, amongst other publications, as well as curating progressive cinema programmes at a number of film festivals. Living between Italy and the UK, having worked in a variety of European countries, Martha’s focus is on feminism, art house cinema and left-wing politics from across the continent. 

The decision to renounce a vitally needed and widely popular policy doesn't make any sense - electorally or economically. 

Our first newsletter covering the six towns is sent to subscribers on February 8 - sign up below and get our stories, investigations and features for free. 

The new data on rising infant illness and mortality is shocking. It is the direct result of a decade of state services rollback - and as the mother of two young children, I’ve witnessed the effects first-hand. 
 

Sarah is from Stoke-on-Trent and directs the city’s largest free event - the Six Towns Carnival. Here, she speaks with residents of Bentilee - one of the largest housing estates in Europe - and examines prejudice, stigma, austerity but, most pertinently, the strength of community

My dad discovered he had cancer in similar circumstances to King Charles. But unlike the King, he wasn’t diagnosed or commencing treatment within two weeks - it took months. He died within a year of his diagnosis. 
 

Sarah is founder and co-director of Staffordshire Association For Black Lives Equality CIC (SABLE). Sarah works on many collaborative projects and initiatives, specialising in inter-hierarchical models of engagement to ensure equitable pathways and practices. Sarah is from Stoke-on-Trent and directs the city’s largest free event - the Six Towns Carnival.

Women in same-sex relationships report experiencing homophobia and a lack of support from the healthcare services during their partner's pregnancy and postpartum.  

Shikhar Talwar is a freelance journalist whose work focuses on politics and human rights, with a specific interest in racism. 

Grange Park is one of hundreds of housing estates built after the Second World War. Life has changed in the decades since; here The Blackpool Lead speaks with residents past and present

Duncan Morrow is Professor of Politics and Director of Community Engagement at Ulster University in Belfast.  His interest in public policy and peace building extends back several decades, including a decade as CEO of the Community Relations Council, a Commissioner responsible for implementing the early release of political prisoners on Northern Ireland in the Good Friday Agreement, and work for the Scottish Government on tackling Sectarianism and Hate Crime.

 For almost seven years, there has been little serious engagement between Northern Ireland's governing parties on the challenges facing Northern Ireland, including serious crises in health, education and infrastructure. Now they're heading back into Stormont, under an unprecedented Sinn Fein First Minister  - but the long-term future remains uncertain and fragile.

The "Evil Plot" to replace Sunak with Badenoch won't win Tories the election - but so far, the roster of candidates for next Tory leader does suggest Starmer will face continuous far-right backlash, no matter how carefully he governs. He might as well go the whole nine yards. 

Don't speak. Don't take your eyes off the teacher. Just nod - or else. Britain's schools are starting to feel like dystopian nano-states that cherish performative obedience and quantifiable grades above all else. How come? And why are private schools exempt from the hyper-disciplinarian approach richly meted out to working class kids? 

Centuries of Danish and Canadian colonialism and a sweeping European ban on seal products have left Inuit societies reeling. Now, some are working to reclaim a pride of place for their culture - and to invite the world to experience it first-hand. 

Thea is a former BBC journalist now working freelance across commercial and editorial projects. She specialises in sustainability and social affairs, and illustrates in addition to writing. 

Laura Davis is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about culture for more than 20 years. She is editor of North West arts newsletter Stored Honey and co-presenter of Beatles City podcast.

Bolton was quick to understand the need to get vaccines out to communities as well as getting people to come to clinics - but now the town needs answers from the COVID Inquiry

Kevin Gopal is a Manchester-based journalist who grew up near Bolton. He was editor of Big Issue North from 2007 until its closure last year and prior to that wrote widely on business, politics and trade regulation for a variety of publications. He’s also edited obituary pages, covered rugby league games and been a restaurant critic.

Arts leaders in Blackpool are working with the local authority to draw up a five-year Cultural Plan - so now is the right time to set out big aspirations.
 

The UK armed forces really are dangerously depleted - by the Tories own wanton cuts and piss-poor outsourcing, not by lack of patriotism. 

Despite its comfortable image, the seaside city faces a unique convergence of every single aspect of the national housing shortage  - and 10 new people present as homeless every single day.

NHS funding cuts are exacerbating inequalities in IVF outcomes - with Black women starting fertility treatment later, experiencing lower rates of success, and even being excluded altogether due to inaccurate metrics. 

As cost-of-living becomes more deeply ingrained in our vocabulary, teachers are forced to go above and beyond to ensure kids can learn effectively

Niamh Spence is a freelance journalist based in the North West. She has written for The Telegraph, Tyla, LadBible, Entertainment Daily, BBC, The Metro, The Mirror, OK! and Mail Online.

Our first newsletter covering the iconic town is sent to subscribers on January 25th - sign up below and get our stories, investigations and features for free. 

I began the Reclaim Blackpool campaign to help women share their experiences of sexual harassment in the town. Here, those people tell their stories of spiking, verbal abuse and feeling unsafe out in Blackpool

Asylum requests withdrawn without the applicants’ knowledge. Requests declined, but still eligible for protracted appeal. Appeals rejected but without offering people anywhere else to go. And requests granted in swathes that risk overwhelming both asylum seekers and local authorities. Experts are looking at Rishi Sunak’s apparent success in cutting down the asylum backlog - and they are sounding the alarm.

Thirteen years on from the uncovering of a network of child sexual abusers in Rotherham and Rochdale, how are the towns dealing with their legacy of abuse, how do survivors live with their trauma, and what lessons have been learnt?

The parallels between the Post Office scandal and the Windrush scandal are clear. As the headlines die away, it’s all too easy for those in power to quietly revoke their promises. Windrush has shown us that public outrage can only ever be a starting point.

Private rentals in Blackpool and the growing mould problems

Tom is an award-winning freelance journalist based in the North West. He has worked for the BBC and various brands for Global Radio. 

Thank you for signing our petition to make private sector rental properties in Blackpool become better places to live.

Blackpool’s privately rented homes are falling apart. 

Michelle Bromley ended up in hospital due to the state of her house. Jade, Angela and their family of five are confined to living in one room, battling with rampant black mould and collapsing stairs. 

And it’s not just them. 

Many of Blackpool’s 18,000 privately rented houses face problems with mould and damp. 

One in four of these homes are classed as a serious threat to health and safety. 

Blackpool Council have themselves acknowledged that failed private rented housing creates the conditions for the town having the lowest life expectancy in England.

Why is more not being done?

We are calling on the Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Street Scene and Neighbourhoods at Blackpool Council, councillor Paula Burdess, to examine the state of Blackpool's private rental sector and ensure people like Michelle, Jade and Angela are getting the support and protection they need and have homes fit to live in.

Blackpool deserves better. 

Sign our petition for Better Homes for Blackpool and back our campaign for the cabinet member to explain how she will lift the quality of private sector rental properties in the town. 

A lot of South Africa's case against Israel hinges on the question of Israel's intentions - but genocides through history show the original intent is almost irrelevant. 

Housing prices are pushing families out of London. Primary schools no longer have enough students to function and shut down. Secondary schools lose their local intake and follow suit. And local economies suffer. London is being hollowed out as a living city - at an ever-accelerating pace. 

Senior Editor (North) for The Lead. Experienced regional newsroom editor, leader and journalist.

There are around 1,300 spaces like Kilmory Community Centre in Bispham keeping people out of the cold. But their future is far from secure and their reason for existing in the first place points to a failure of government and politicians.

The Blackpool Lead launches on Thursday (January 11) with the first edition landing in inboxes as part of The Lead's northern expansion

The scandal was long in the public eye, but feeling something is vastly different to merely knowing it, and narrative productions is how many of us connect to issues emotionally. This is why ongoing cuts to production budgets spell disaster. 

The rate of suicide for female nurses in the UK is  already 23% higher than for women in the general population - and it's still growing. Low staffing and the resultant overwork are contributing to "intolerable working conditions". 

The new Channel 4 film is a well-rounded documentary on the planet's most famous misogynist—and it leaves you asking how to address his corrosive impact on young men and boys.  

Dark as this year has been, be cheered by the thought this is likely the last Christmas we'll spend under a Conservative government for a good long while. But this is a reason to get motivated - not complacent. 

The Lead's Leah Borromeo speaks with fellow documentary filmmaker Paul Sng about "Tish" - an intimate, powerful portrait about photographer Tish Murtha and her social realist images of 1970s and 1980s Britain. 

It’s hard to imagine any other setting in which the fate of more than 150 missing children is dismissed with a shrug by the state - but a system of forced MRI and X-ray tests to uncover mythical adults pretending to be kids gets passed into law. 

This year, locals of the south-east London suburb have hit back spectacularly against the far right - but their neighbourhood has a long and vaunted progressive history.

Conservatives have brandished migration fears as key to retaining Labour strongholds they won in 2019. But recent polling and interviews paint a more complex picture on migration - and while many voters are back to pre-Brexit positions, many are also saying they won't bother to vote in 2024 at all. 

Pittance meant to cover clothes, hygiene products - and transport, meaning many asylum seekers will be effectively confined to the immediate environs of their hotels. 

Rachel Charlton-Dailey is an award-winning disabled editor, journalist, and activist. She is a disability rights columnist for The Daily Mirror where she guest edited the series Disabled Britain. When Rachel isn't writing, she can be found walking her sausage dog.

From a minister who couldn't care less, to no minister at all, to a hastily appointed underling who'll be splitting this job with two other roles. Could the Tories show us any more contempt? 

Sleazy, extremist and far more visible on social media than on the streets of Blackpool, the dishonourable member will not be missed here.

The warnings were ignored, the concerns played down. And now a man has died. He will not be the last person to lose their life on the Home Office barge. 

Antonia Charlesworth Stack is a writer, editor, and activist from Blackpool. She is the former deputy editor of Big Issue North magazine and current editor of hyper-local arts and culture website Blackpool Social Club. She is also founder of Reclaim Blackpool, a campaign for women’s safety in the town, and a contributing author to Lancashire Stories, an anthology of short fiction inspired by the county.

When it comes to the housing crisis, our attention is drawn to towns and cities. But the countryside is running out of affordable housing too, with young people and new families paying the price.  

Whenever your think you've seen past the bluster to the bland self-interest, there's something crasser still. 

The prime minister's brutal tightening of rules around seeking asylum is a boon to modern slavers and human traffickers. But the rules can changed as radically in the opposite direction - with much more promising results. 

His writing felt like a door swinging wide open, light pouring in and illuminating new ideas where other poets seemed to put up barriers. Zephaniah will live on not only in his own works—but in the works of so many creatives he mentored, supported and inspired. 

Lead Editor (North) and Senior Editor (North) join to launch new newsletters and coverage for The Lead in Blackpool, Bolton, Stoke-on-Trent and Teesside.

The UK is burning up its green credentials for one man's political gain. His fleeting appearance at COP28 is merely an affirmation of that. 

A record number of asylum seekers in the UK have become eligible for work permits after being strung out for over 12 months. But far from being a pull factor for economic migrants the policy is a shambles, NGOs say—as they call on the new Home Secretary to pull the plug. 

When the Home Office backtracked on housing asylum seekers in a small town hotel in Wales, anti-immigrant protesters celebrated. But the real story is that of a government failure more than a grassroots uprising - and a community left bitterly divided by the far right.

Most people in the UK get a warning if their family's medical history contains something they should watch out for. But if you've been adopted, you and your doctor are flying blind—and the NHS won't even refer you for genetic screening. This needs to change.

The Tories are encouraging immigration with one hand and incite against migrants with another. It's time we stopped playing their game. 

Zoe Gardner is an independent migration policy researcher and campaigner who works in the UK and across Europe to promote rights based and effective migration and refugee policies. She has held policy and communications positions at the European Network on Statelessness, JCWI, Asylum Aid, the Race Equality Foundation and the European Council on Refugees & Exiles.

A glorified spreadsheet, a white elephant, or something more sinister? The Palantir contract to handle data for the NHS is hardly a surprise - but to those who've been following it closely, it's still a shocker. 

Natalie is a journalist, podcast host, and the author of Mixed/Other - she specialises in social justice, inequality, lifestyle, health and wellbeing, and everything in-between. When she's not writing and editing for The Lead, you can find her work in the Guardian, Metro, Stylist, gal-dem, the Independent, and others. Mancunian living in London.

Dimi is a journalist and an editor, including at The Lead. He is a co-founder of  +972 Magazine, and his writing has appeared everywhere from The New York Times to Haaretz and from Foreign Affairs to the London Review of Books. He also spent some time as a senior editor at Newsweek, but he doesn't like to talk about it much. Dimi is also a facilitator with background in conflict mediation and currently focusing on journalism and trauma. 

Migration numbers have hit a record high. Why aren't Tories celebrating this as a win for Brexit? 

Half of young women prisoners harmed themselves last year—with an average of 30 incidents per woman per year, new figures suggest. Many of the women report receiving virtually no support for their mental health.

Braverman is now the most likely successor to Rishi Sunak - and while she's not likely to win elections, she'll use her position to drag the Overton window ever further to the right. Labour mustn't let her. 

Eight-year waiting lists on the NHS. Seven-hour waits for ambulances. Slashes to the police force and jaw-dropping cuts to the education system. With Belfast government paralysed by Brexit fallout, the country is in deepening crisis - but Westminster just wants its money back.

A 'prostitute caution' requires no evidence, merely suspicion - but stays on your record for a 100 years and blocks you from finding other work. 

A polar research vessel. 

Extreme-right figures are parasitising the Gaza war — some masquerading as pro-Palestinian, some as pro-Israeli. Don't let them. 

The study of Earth’s history betrays some degree of resilience: Climate change is a crisis, but a solvable crisis.

Chantelle Lunt is a writer, lecturer, PhD research and activist. She has a professional background in policing and public services, teaches at LJMU’s School of Education and is currently researching the post-16 educational experiences of care leavers.

I have first-hand experience of the risks Braverman's incendiary comments cause to homeless people. 

Sweeping changes to taxes on companies profiteering from wartime price hikes mirror demands pressed by the oil and gas lobby, documents reveal. 

From scrappage schemes for older cars, to more walkable and bike-friendly cities - there's so much more the government should be doing to help people adapt. 

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah CBE is founder of the Ella Roberta Foundation and a WHO BreatheLife Ambassador, based in Lewisham, South London. Rosamund became a clean air advocate after her 9-year-old daughter, Ella, died in 2013 from severe asthma. Rosamund spent several years campaigning for a second coroner's inquest into Ella's death to determine its link to air pollution. Rosamund is also a teacher, lecturer and an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association. 

The sooner the war stops, the more lives will be saved, the more paths to diplomacy will open, and the more chances Israelis will have to topple Netanyahu. A shared call for a ceasefire by both Starmer and Sunak would reverberate far beyond Westminster.

Johnson and his ilk have the slippery habit of failing up - this can't be allowed to happen this time. 

Cherry Casey is a freelance journalist who specialises in child welfare, with a particular interest in how policies on housing, education, drugs, online safety and more are shaping young people's lives.

Apathy, reticence and Brexit have left the UK far behind the curve on prosecuting war crimes - making it perhaps the safest country in Western Europe for suspects to visit without fear of arrest. 

Creativity, curiosity, self-esteem and social skills are essential for our well-being - but because they are not quantifiable, they are being left behind. 

Sashy Nathan is a lawyer specialising in international human rights, crime, digital rights and regulatory law. He is the co-founder of the social justice law firm, Commons and works in communications, public affairs and emerging political technologies at 89up.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is not ending anytime soon. Here's how to stay involved, but still conserve energy for the long run.  

Jessica is a journalist based in West Yorkshire. She writes about social inequalities and injustices in the UK, with people at the heart of every story. You can find more of her work here. 

Almost a million people in England depend on ad-hoc, unregulated private water supplies. We look at one village that drinks from a contaminated beck - but has been told connecting to the water grid will cost £150,000.

Brits can’t name a single Black British historical figure - with our flawed education system, this isn’t surprising.

Far from being insulated from the ups and downs of the real estate market, social and emergency housing has become tethered to it - and is facing an entirely new crisis of its own. 

From medics to mediators, social workers to journalists: here is how you can support the people doing life-saving work on the ground. 

Greta Thunberg and other protesters like her are being arrested, fined and threatened with jail. These intentionally aggressive tactics aim to bully us into silence.

I didn't want to leave Leeds - but I felt I had no choice. More young people than ever feel the same.

Big pharmaceutical companies position themselves as saviours of humanity - but in truth, they siphon billions from richer governments while abandoning people in poorer countries. Here's how we can change course.

Rebecca. L. Root is a multimedia journalist from the UK based in Bangkok. She covers humanitarian aid, human rights, global health, development and climate, among other things. Her work has featured in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The New Humanitarian, Devex, and others. 

From rescuing Brits and their families to mediating or imposing a ceasefire, there's much more the UK can and should do. 

Would Britain’s plan to relocate a number of asylum seekers to Rwanda be good for the African nation?

Jonn Elledge is a freelance journalist and New Statesman columnist. His books includes The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything: All the Facts You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know (2021) and Conspiracy: A History of Boll*cks Theories, and How Not to Fall for Them (2022). He also writes the Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything.

Exciting, exhilarating and FOMO-inducing even while you were there? Yes. Mind-numbingly predictable, regimented and dull? Why, also yes. 

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick thinks we should have more kids to solve the care crisis. But the solution lies outside the traditional family box.

Nick Dearden is the director of Global Justice Now. He has been a campaigner against corporate globalisation and for global economic justice for over 20 years, including with War on Want, Amnesty International and Jubilee Debt Campaign. He has been a leading voice in the campaign for a People's Vaccine and a key organiser against neoliberal trade deals including the now abandoned EU/US trade deal (TTIP). He regularly contributes political analysis to publications including The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Open Democracy, Red Pepper and Soundings journal.

Emily Kenway is a writer, researcher and former carer. After spending around a decade working on social justice campaigns and policy, her first book, ‘The Truth about Modern Slavery’ (Pluto Press, 2021), showed how exploitation has been politically reframed and why, and was described as a 'powerful treatise' by the Guardian. Her second book, 'Who Cares: the Hidden Crisis of Caregiving and How We Solve It' (Hachette, 2023) was a finalist for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2023 and has been widely acclaimed in the national press. She is currently completing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, and sits on the boards of the charity National Ugly Mugs, which fights violence against sex workers and Common Wealth think tank which works on democratising ownership of the economy. 

Please consider sharing this petition far and wide - as with much else in our democracy, this is a numbers game. 

With delays in the system rife, asylum seekers spend many months in forced idleness until their cases are decided. Here are three people's stories.

Forced poverty and fear of deportation make asylum seekers easy targets.

Suella Braverman likes to portray herself as tough on crime. But for all her rhetoric, it is clear there is a particular crime that the Home Secretary has no interest in tackling. Even worse: her Illegal Migration Act is a veritable traffickers' charter. 

There are tens of thousands of people who, like me, have fled wars, oppression and violence, but who are now in limbo.

Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi is an independent investigative journalist. Her work has been twice shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for political writing and she was a 2020 Stuart Hall Fellow at Sussex University. As a 2010 Churchill Fellow she reported on the plight of people seeking asylum and work across Europe.

Joe Fortune is the general secretary of the Co-operative Party, the political party of the UK co-operative movement and sister party of the Labour Party. Joe has been involved with politics for over 20 years and was previously a Labour Party adviser.

Sabir Zazai OBE is the chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council. He arrived in the UK in 1999 after fleeing the conflict in Afghanistan. Sabir previously led the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre, a charity that once assisted Sabir through his own journey as a refugee. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow for services to community.

Samir Jeraj is a journalist and author with a focus on social issues. He is co-author of The Rent Trap, a book on private renting in the UK and reports on housing, migration, and homelessness. Samir is a policy correspondent at the New Statesman and commissioning editor at Hyphen. 

A hostile bureaucracy stops doctors and other key workers from contributing to the UK.

Amid a labour shortage, the government puts ideology before the economy.

To my Member of Parliament, 

We're writing to ask you to fix a shambolic, self-defeating policy that has harmed our country and countless people in it for far too long: the ban on asylum seekers working. 

At the moment, anyone seeking asylum in the UK is barred from employment until their case is decided upon - a process that can take months, or even years.

They could be teachers; they could be engineers, chefs or builders. They are the people who can help alleviate the severe labour shortages in so many sectors and communities post-Brexit. No matter: Instead of earning a decent wage and paying their taxes, they will be forced to choose between illegal employment or a pitiful allowance.

The ban is so convoluted that even doctors - ostensibly exempt from the ban - are often barred from contributing to the NHS.

Instead, they and tens of thousands like them are condemned to idleness when they want to work, handouts when they want to pay taxes, separation when they have so much to share.

The ban benefits nobody - nobody except human traffickers. Allowing asylum seekers to work while they are considered for refugee status would inject £333 million into the economy - at the very least. The public are on side, too: 81 percent of us told YouGov last year they would support lifting the ban.

No financial cost. No political cost. A win for everyone involved.

We urge you - whichever party you belong to - to do everything you can to lift the ban and let them work.

tktktktkt

Shakhtar Donetsk has become emblematic of Ukraine's determination to preserve as many vestiges of normal life as possible - including football. A new book delves into the history of the club. 

 “We can use this to get the discussion of mass deportations into general conversation and wake up some sheeple," gushed one activist on a far-right Telegram channel. Others, meanwhile, called on Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak to also deport themselves. 

As Suella Braverman threatens to slam the door on victims of homophobia, a Freedom of Information request shows the Home Office has been holding at least 129 asylum seekers identifying as LGBTQI+ as recently as last year. Many report homophobic bullying from staff and fellow detainees - and indifference from authorities.  

Nearly 2,000 people died "during or following" contact with police in the UK since 1990. Only 10 charges of manslaughter or murder have ever been brought forward, resulting in just one conviction. And the killings are just the tip of the iceberg of institutional racism. 

Sofia Akel is an award-winning cultural historian, creative consultant, writer, host and lecturer specialising in Black British history. She is also the founder of the non-profit, Free Books Campaign. Her work has been featured in national and international press, including BBC 1Xtra, Channel 4 News and ITV News. Sofia also lends her talent to documentary film, TV, audio and music videos with credits including; Creative Archival Consultant (Dirt in the Diamond by Jords, Tribeca Film Festival 2023 select), Race Equity Specialist (Teardrops by Kano, nominated for a UKMVA), Researcher and Casting Consultant. Her debut book exploring Black British history will be released in 2025.

Workshops mixing politics and play, community and craft, are revitalising democratic participation in a more direct way than a distant parliament ever could. 

Dr Malaika Cunningham is Artistic Director of The Bare Project, a theatre practitioner and a democratic theorist. Her research explores the role of participatory theatre spaces for political discourse, exchange between strangers and imagination. She has also written on political engagement, participatory arts, and co-productive policy-making. In her research, she brings together her practice as a theatre maker and her academic background in political theory. She completed her PhD in summer 2020 at the University of Leeds as part of Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity.

Franklyn Addo is a community activist and writer based in Hackney. He is the author of A Quick Ting On Grime. He also writes on issues including police brutality and the criminalisation of culture in many publications, from The Guardian to Cambridge University Press. Beyond writing, Frankly manages violence reduction programmes and is frequently instructed as an expert defence witness in court cases concerning ‘gangs’, technology and social media, and youth culture. 

From pirate radio to Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, journalist and rapper Franklyn Addo pens an extraordinary narrative of the history, present and future of grime music in his new book. 

In his new book, Ben Judah attempts to tell the inner stories of contemporary Europe as lived by the people who inhabit it - but can never seem to get close enough. 

Garvan Walshe is an entrepreneur and democracy activist. He is founder of Article7 Strategies and Chair of Unhack Democracy. In Brussels he’s a research associate at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies and Head of Communications at the European Policy Centre.
 

Since Brexit, hundreds of thousands of Brits living abroad have struggled with everything from access to pensions to getting official documents for emigrating. After years of feeling out of sight, out of mind, some are calling for a new approach: overseas constituencies. 

Jack McGovan is a freelance journalist and writer based in Berlin, focusing on climate, politics and animals. His work has appeared in a range of mainstream and independent outlets, including The Guardian, WIRED and Sentient Media.

Tom Copley is London's Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, and oversees the Mayor’s two affordable homes programmes, including ‘Building Council Homes for Londoners’ – the first City Hall initiative dedicated to council homebuilding.

There’s no contradiction between being pro-new homes, and pro-rent control. If London is to tackle the housing crisis, it desperately needs both. 

Megan Warren-Lister is a freelance reporter. She covers social justice and has a particular interest in women's health. 

Exclusive analysis of NHS data shows 30% of sickness absence among midwives was for mental health reasons - the highest in the NHS. The profession is plagued by a vicious circle of understaffing and excessive workloads, and both veteran and newly qualified staff are dropping out. 

Digitising railway stations and removing staff will make them less accessible - not more.

Findings shared with The Lead show as many as 194 housing association properties being put up by auction houses in a single month. The real figures could be much higher. 

Farage and Fox attacking celebrations of Black culture shows why they’re needed: we’re not remotely “postracial” yet. 

Naomi Evans is an author, teacher, speaker and activist. In 2020 she founded the anti-racism platform Everyday Racism alongside her sister Natalie which has accrued over 200k followers. In July 2022 Penguin published their first book “The Mixed Race Experience” and in July 2023 a children’s book entitled “Everyday Action, Everyday Change” was published by Hachette. Naomi’s work has been featured in Red Magazine, the I newspaper, BBC news and Grazia. She currently works part time as a DEI lead in a large secondary school and is writing her first fiction book. 

Ghanian artist and poet Kwame Aidoo reports his impressions from the climate change Biennale that is bringing African voices into the heart of the architectural mainstream - despite obstruction from Italy's own government. 

Training about racism and anti-racism should be a statutory part of the mandatory safety training that all teachers have to go through. 

Kwame's work explores decolonial, environmental and societal conversations and texts and he has exhibited, published and performed at institutions and DIY spaces across Europe, Africa and Latin America. He founded Inkfluent (a multidisciplinary cultural project invested in Pan-Africanism), the Nkabom Festival, Kpaluhi Weaving Village, Portals of Ghana Architecture Research Archives and the Buzanga Books Library. Also a prolific author and poet, Aidoo lives and works in Ghana.

We can't let cynical, negative framing of the annual Caribbean celebration take away from the beauty and brilliance of Carnival.

Just when momentum in the writer’s strike began to wane, actors joined the picket line. This unprecedented solidarity has re-energised the movement.

Richard Smyth is a writer and critic. His work has been published in The New Statesman, The TLS, Prospect, Aeon, Literary Review, New Scientist, The Guardian and The Fence, and his recent books include The Woodcock (2021) and The Jay, The Beech And The Limpetshell (2023).

From Hackney in East London, Franklyn is a social commentator, journalist, youth worker and rapper whose work revolves around the promotion of social justice and understanding the causes of issues like serious youth violence and the criminalisation of young people. He has written articles for The Guardian, The Independent and Sky News, and has been featured in The New Yorker. His productions include a short documentary on crime-induced trauma for BBC3 and a narrative about the human consequences of inequality for BBC Radio 4's 'Four Thought' programme. 

British democracy is on trial. We can no longer hold our leaders to account; the state has too much power; and the truth doesn’t matter at all. A new book by barrister Dr Sam Fowles unpacks how those we voted into government have nothing but contempt for the democratic system that got them there.

Dr Sam Fowles is a barrister specialising in public and constitutional law, with experience of law in the UK, US, Australia, and at the Council of Europe. He has worked on many of the most significant political cases of recent years. He regularly appears in the media including on the BBC, Sky and Al Jazeera.

When journalist Katharine Quarmby was visiting her parents in the Waveney Valley, she encountered a story about the murder of woman who was staked through the heart and buried at the edge of town. What transpired when Katharine unravelled the story unpacks histories of women who faced poverty and exile.

As a new exhibition celebrating Fuji music opens in London, Bobo Omotayo explores the unsung legacy of Nigeria's indigenous music genre.  

A new Deaf-led initiative to design more inclusive buildings and address systemic inequities has launched this summer. 

Dr Natasha Hirst is a deaf freelance photographer and journalist, specialising in social justice and disability equality. She was a co-researcher on the groundbreaking "Legally Disabled" project with Cardiff Business School. English is her first language and she also uses British Sign Language. She is also president of the National Union of Journalists.

We need to accept that humans are part of the rewilding process - and that we won't always tread carefully and "leave no trace". We are all part of the habitat.

Renuka Odedra is a freelance writer from Leicester, who specialises in football. She has written for The Guardian, VICE, Resurgence & Ecologist, Eurosport, Stylist and more. She is also an author who has contributed to Football She Wrote: A Women’s Football Writing Anthology. Her writing can be found on her website.

Of more than 700 players at the FIFA Women's World Cup, only one has South Asian heritage. This needs to change.

Exclusive analysis by The Lead has found far-right groups have conducted at least 66 hotel ‘visits’, protests, and banner drops – filming and intimidating migrant people, sharing disinformation about refugee rights, and demonising children. 

Bridgetown, where the British once forged the transatlantic slavery model, is making a bid to unify reparation struggles from Africa to the Caribbean and beyond - and to put the demand on the global political agenda. 

The victory of common sense and communal rights over Alexander Darwall deserves to be celebrated - but it needs to become a turning point, not just an exception. 

From a Nobel laureate to young journalists, Ukrainian women are documenting Russia's war crimes in exhaustive, exhausting detail - aiming to set a new bar for holding perpetrators accountable. 

Katharine is an investigative journalist and editor, focussing on climate reporting and environmental injustice, racism, disability rights, the care system and violence against marginalised groups. She is part of a European collaboration on environmental journalism, most recently co-editing a nine country investigation into the harms and risks of asbestos. Katharine also writes fiction and non-fiction. Her debut novel, The Low Road (Unbound, 2023) follows the real life and the lost history of Hannah Tyrell, born in her Norfolk hometown, in the early 19th century to an unmarried mother. She was later transported to 'Botany Bay' in 1828. 
 

The days of being caned at school are long behind us. But one form of coercive, often painful, physical contact from teacher to pupil survives.

Both the subject and Christopher Nolan's craft would have been better served by a miniseries - or by expanding one of this film's dazzling array of cinematic styles into a standalone film. 

 Count Binface is an intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from Sigma IX and a part-time politician on Earth. His hobbies include invading planets, dominating inferior species, and Lovejoy. He is officially London's 9th choice to be mayor.

The planet’s leading force in ‘novelty politics’ on his Uxbridge by-election triumph, on how he'd fix ULEZ, and on his plans for next year's mayoral, general and the US presidential elections. 

Nels Abbey is a British-Nigerian writer, broadcaster, media executive and satirist. Before moving into media, he worked in financial services for the US investment mammoth BlackRock. His first book Think Like a White Man (Canongate, 2019) is a widely praised eviscerating satire of modern racial discourse and politics in the corporate world. His upcoming book The Hip-Hop MBA (2024) explores what the world can learn about cut-throat capitalism from the business of Hip-Hop. Nels is a regular contributor across the spectrum of major news and media organisations including the Guardian, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, The Metro, The Independent, Channel 4 News, CBC News(Canada) and several flagship BBC shows including Newsnight and Question Time. In 2020 Nels co-founded the Black Writers Guild.

After a video of a young London mother being handcuffed in front of her kid  went viral, police issued a statement trying to paint their victim as the villain. This ritual needs to stop. 

Greta Gerwig's latest box office smash doesn't provide a polemic on how to finally destabilise the scourge of misogyny once and for all. But that isn’t Barbie’s job.

From GB News and TalkTV to the Uxbridge byelection, a far-right climate populism is taking hold - with a clear agenda. 

The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale was derided by conservatives for not having enough buildings. But as climate change finally hits Europe head on, the Biennale offers glimpses of a green, non-colonial, riotously imaginative global future - and lets you experience it in real time. 

The pastor and campaigner was best known as the interviewee who helped Tammy Faye break the stigma over HIV patients and gay people. There was more to that interview than meets the eye.

Faiza is an economist, writer, and commentator. She is the author of a range of materials and publications covering the most salient social and economic debates of our times, including inequality, austerity, immigration, youth unemployment and social mobility. Faiza has over 15 years of experience researching the trends and consequences of inequality, as well as designing policies and campaigns to address the causes of inequality and exclusion.

The Lead's Reading Room: Read an extract of Dr Faiza Shaheen's debut book, a personal and statistical look at how society and the economy are structured, what really defines your life chances and how our current system keeps us locked into an ugly hierarchy.

Faced with the spiralling climate crisis, we simply can't afford to have economic planning geared exclusively towards maximising profits. But this doesn't mean going back to the top-down, technocratic, centralised planning of the past. 

People of colour in the UK are more likely to enter the mental health system through police intervention or forcible sectioning - and even when in therapy, they face obstacles ranging from racist tropes to cultural misunderstandings. New treatment approaches are seeking to change that. 

The bill that just passed its second reading is ostensibly aimed "only" at boycotts of Israel. But here in the U.S., anti-BDS bills are already being rapidly and effectively cloned to clamp down on boycotts of fossil fuels, firearms manufacturers, and more. 

Ellie Broughton has over 12 years' experience writing about mental health and wellbeing for titles including The Guardian, the i paper, the Huffington Post, Lifehacker, patient.info, Stylist, The Independent, Refinery29 UK and Vice UK. 

She specialises in topics including emerging modalities, depression in chronic conditions, therapy efficacy, bias and psychoanalytic ideas. 

Alan Leveritt is founder and publisher of the Arkansas Times, published in Little Rock, Arkansas, since 1974. He is a native Arkansan and lives and farms on his great-grandparents' farmstead outside of Little Rock. He dropped out of college in 1974 and started the Times on $200. 

We can't hope to compete with AI on speed and volume of technical tasks. But AI can never compete with us in the truly creative thinking - from music, to philosophy, to the kind of inspired science fiction that guides actual technological progress. As humans, this is our natural advantage, and it needs to be shored up. 

Hannah Fearn is a freelance journalist specialising in social affairs. She was comment editor of The Independent for seven years, and has previously worked for The Guardian, Times Higher Education and Inside Housing. She has a special interest in inequality, poverty, housing, education and life chances.

Shared owners face a triple whammy: rising mortgage payments, rises in the rental charge on the portion of the property they don’t own, and ever-rising service charges. And worst of all? They virtually can't get out. 

Naila Aroni is an artist and writer from Nairobi, Kenya. She is really excited about cultivating and advocating for Black joy through her work. She likes to write about Africa's creative economy and African diasporas and migration.

Daniel Harper is British-Iranian multimedia journalist and photographer, specialising in topics such as migration, human rights, LGBT+, geo-politics, climate change and community. Since graduating form City, University of London with an MA in International Journalism Daniel has written for and published by outlets such as Euronews, Mailonline, Insider, Are We Europe and JSTOR among others.

On the face of it,  a new category exclusively reserved for African music could end the drought of African winners. However, this move is risky precisely because it is exclusive - and so generic.

Even as some young Polish LGBTQ+ people settle in exile, others are pushing back against new homophobic legislation - and old prejudice. 

Dean Wilson has been the Daily Mirror Cricket Correspondent since 2006, covering England teams at home and abroad. He is an experienced broadcaster who regularly contributes to the BBC and was a producer on the Sky Sports documentary on England’s Black cricketers “You guys are history”. Dean lives in London with his wife and two daughters. 

The new report is a welcome admission of what those of us who follow the game closely have known for years. The true test of the England and Wales Cricket Board will be action. 

Manasa Narayanan is a journalist who covers politics and technology. She works for the news non-profit the Citizens, and is a researcher and contributor with the Real Facebook Oversight Board. Her work has appeared in outlets like VICE World News, Tech Policy Press and Byline Times. With a postgraduate degree in Political Communication, she continues to research and write about topics at the intersection of politics and technology; more interested in the politics of people and technology than politics of the state. Occasionally she writes essays, and dabbles in poetry.

It's not uncommon for far-right spaces to use pornography to steer users to radicalising content. But a UK porn company has turned this process on its head. 

The Titan submersible was lost because a company allegedly cut corners hoping disaster would not strike. The Adriana sank off the Greek coast because European policies were crafted to ensure that it would. 

We need a broad civic coalition of thinkers and activists to stop the cycle of inflation and interest rate hikes. 

Níall Glynn is an economist, researcher and founder of The Working Class Economists Group. He focuses on economic & social networks, economic planning, industrial policy and economic history. Most importantly, he never shuts up about class. 

How ‘Windrush Futurism’ is empowering the descendants of Caribbean migrants to shape new identities.

Voices across the political spectrum reacted with outrage to the sentencing of a mother-of-three to 28 months in prison for taking an abortion pill later than the legal timeline. But the far Right is mobilising to toughen up the laws further still. 

We speak to the armed Russian group staging attacks on Russia's military infrastructure - inside the country's borders. 

Arun Kundnani has been active in antiracist movements in Britain and the United States for three decades. He is a former editor of the journal Race & Class and was a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. The Guardian has described him as "one of Britain’s best political writers." He lives in Philadelphia.

The Lead's Reading Room: An exclusive extract from Arun Kundnani's new book What Is Antiracism?

On Monday, a woman was sentenced to 28 months in prison through taking an abortion pill later than the legally mandated period.

This sentence higlights a simple truth: abortion is still illegal in the UK, bar a few narrowly defined exemptions.

This needs to be the other way around: abortion needs to be broadly legal in the UK, bar a few very narrowly defined exceptions.

And as importantly, abortion needs to be taken out of criminal law. It's not a crime: it's a healthcare issue, and it should be treated as such.

We call on all MPs, of all parties, to bring abortion laws in the UK in line with women's rights.

The sentencing of a woman to 28 months for taking an abortion pill after the legally mandated period highlights a problem: Abortion is still illegal by default. We need a new, straightforward abortion law that treats it as a healthcare issue first and foremost. 

Boris Johnson has scurried out of the House of Commons, after finding out he'll be declared to have misled Parliament - an unprecedented disgrace for a British prime minister.

Just a few hours earlier, he unveiled his Honours List: a roll-call of cronies and enablers, almost all of whom either aided him in his catastrophic mismanagement of the country, or profited from it.

These aren't public servants - these are accomplices and enablers.

It is beyond preposterous that they should enjoy a lifetime reward for inflicting him on the country!

We call on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to scrap the list with immediate effect.

The eviction threat by Barking and Dagenham Council leader Darren Rodwell - a rising Labour politician - is not only cruel: it's bound to misfire. 

Ella Sinclair is a freelance journalist based in London focusing on race, racism, politics and social justice. She has written for gal-dem and The Voice. Find her on Twitter. 

As commercial DNA tests produce ever-more granular databases, descendants of slaves are being introduced to descendants of slaveholders. The implications for the reparation debate are vast. 

The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Leslie Lokko, feels like a radical subversion of everything you might expect from the world's main architectural exhibition - deposited right into the heart of the artistic establishment.

Alex Birch is a freelance journalist whose interests lie in gender, disability and pop culture. She has written for The Guardian, Red Pepper and GXRL

Nick is a journalist and author of The Great Post Office Scandal. His latest book is Depp v Heard: the unreal story.

The latest revelations about the use of racial identification codes - including "negroid types" - are just the tip of the iceberg.

Are Artificial Intelligence execs more worried about an AI apocalypse - or about regulation?

From being paid in "exposure", to distinct ableism in the workplace, disabled writers who use their voices and lived experiences to educate, are being let down at every turn - here's how you can treat them fairly.

​Rosemary Richings is a writer, editor, and public speaker specialising in disability and neurodiversity-related subject matter and the author of Stumbling Through Space and Time: Living Life With Dyspraxia. Rosemary's writing has been featured in Travel + Leisure, Broken Pencil Magazine, Happiful Magazine, and many other print and digital publications. 

 Chris Stokel-Walker is a UK journalist who writes for WIRED, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times and more. He is the author of TikTok Boom: China's Dynamite App and the Superpower Race for Social Media, YouTubers: How YouTube Shook Up TV and Created a New Generation of Stars, and The History of the Internet in Byte-Sized Chunks.

John Urquhart is the founder of Cytgord Cymru and second elected general secretary & founder of Harmony Party UK. They are non-binary and a resident of Ely.

After years of sporadic and overbearing enforcement, South Wales Police needlessly divided a community before it even had time to realise it was grieving.

Maxine Harrison is a freelance journalist and writer with a special interest in diversity and culture. Maxine's work has appeared in The Independent, Business Insider and Refinery29 UK. You can follow Maxine on Twitter @BlessedIsM and visit her website at www.remireports.com. 

94% of speech and language therapists are white, which means Black and ethnic minority patients are missing out on the cultural nuances that can be vital in treatment. 

Ellie Mae O'Hagan is the Head of Engagement at Good Law Project. She previously worked as a strategic communications consultant and ran the Centre for Labour and Social Studies. 

Some of the worst things said at the National Conservative conference were puzzle pieces of a much larger story. Here's is your guide - and a suggestion on how to push back. 

It's easy to dismiss the National Conservatism conference last week as the farcical death throes of a mortally wounded party. But the Tories' forecasted defeat makes National Conservatism more dangerous, not less. 

Neo-Nazis, National Conservatives, Ron De Santis: everyone on the hard Right is screaming about drag queens in libraries. But the high pitch belies a pragmatic calculation. 

A useful analytical tool has become a box-ticking exercise that places limits on our understanding of people’s lives.

In the high-pressure world of fine dining, organising for better conditions makes sense.

At first glance, the new protest ban's chaotic debut at the Coronation backfired. But chaos was the point. If even the police aren't sure what's legal anymore, how can you, a citizen, feel safe to exercise your rights?

Since the coronation arrests, our membership almost doubled. We'll keep up the fight - not just for republicans, but for anyone who wants a functioning democracy in this country. 

David Lammy’s argument that it would take up too much time to repeal the Public Order Act is nonsense. Keir Starmer's refusal to countenance even trying to is worse. 

Labour says it would take too much time to repeal the Tories' authoritarian Public Order Act. At best, that's nonsense.  

Matt Foot is a criminal defence solicitor, specialising in representing protesters and victims of miscarriage of justice. As a campaigning lawyer he co-founded Justice Alliance, to protect legal aid, and Asbo Concern. He has written for the Guardian and the London Review of Books. He is co-author of Charged - How the Police Try to Suppress Protest by Matt Foot & Morag Livingstone (Verso 2022). 

Of all the pieces we publish, we didn't think the one to get the far right in a frenzy will be a feel-good hiking story. But it taught us something about how tightly that ecosphere is linked.    

James Hawes is author of The Shortest History of Germany, which is available in over 20 languages, and The Shortest History of England, which made #4 in The Times. He is currently writing The Shortest History of Ireland.   

If the Crown falls, the UK falls – and then England itself, that traumatised, post-colonial land, will take centre stage for the first time since 1707. And nobody wants that.

Marcus Ryder is the Head of External Consultancies at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity. He is also the Chair of RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), the author of "Access All Areas - the Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond" and the Editor of "Black British Lives Matter".

Black and Asian Britons are still asked whom they would cheer for at a cricket match: England or "where they're from". Now we risk facing the same with the oath - especially as Commonwealth countries begin to reject the monarchy. 

Each royal event is a marketeer's opportunity.  Here's our guide to some of the more WTF items vying for your pound.

Mark Thomas is a writer and performer. He has done this for nearly 40 years. In that time he has won some things, done some things and is a member of the NUJ.

Police threats to crack down on protests against the monarchy aren't about law and order- they're just demands for deference.

The Tories' reasons for changing how we vote don't add up - even if you try to take their excuses at face value. 

June Bellebono is a London-based writer, cultural producer and facilitator. They are the founder of oestrogeneration, a magazine platform highlighting transfeminine voices in the UK, and of Queer Good Grief, a peer support group by and for bereaved LGBTQ+ people. They have written for gal-dem, HUCK and Novara Media, and have organised events for Somerset House, Autograph ABP, QUEERCIRCLE and Museum of the Home. 

Landlords in London's artsy warehouse district are following the old playbook: rent out cheaply, let creative tenants liven up the place, then kick them out and cash in. But this time, residents are fighting back.  

Carenza Arnold is Communications Manager at Women for Refugee Women.

Cruel, racist, deeply dangerous - the bill MPs passed in the Commons is all that, but it poses a special risk to pregnant women and their unborn children. Still, the fight's not over. 

Sayo Olukoga is a journalist who’s written for  Black Ballad, Metro and others. She specialises in all things race, culture, media and fashion, and currently works full-time as a producer at GUAP Magazine.

Powerful, groundbreaking and nuanced, the acclaimed play enters the final week of it West End run. 

Thank you for standing up for your right to vote!

The numbers are in:  nearly 2 million voters - according to the government’s own figures - have been effectively BANNED from taking part in the local elections on May 4th. And these aren’t the final numbers. Between iNews reports of Tory leaflets in Labour areas telling people they don’t need to bring ID, and a Tory minister refusing to tell MPs if records will be even kept of how many people get turned away at the polling stations, we will likely never know how many Britons just lost their right to vote.

We do know those Britons are likely to be the same people already hurt the most by Tory governments: Black and Brown people, LGBTQ people, Muslim women, people with disabilities and people on benefits. Government surveys found all these groups are significantly less likely to have valid photo ID than middle-class white people - the majority of the Tory base.

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman have just pulled off the largest single rollback of voting rights in British history. And let’s be clear: their excuses don’t stand up to even minimal scrutiny. The stated reason for Voter ID was impersonation fraud - which is virtually non-existent in our country. Only one person was convicted of election fraud by impersonation following the 2019 general election.

We demand Rishi Sunak and his cabinet scrap this dangerous, deeply damaging law before the next General Election, even if they think this will hurt them at the ballot box. That’s what democracy is supposed to be about.

And if they don't, we demand every other party leader - and every peer, and every MP! - pledge to scrap voter ID as soon as a new parliament is convened.

This petition will be delivered to all party leaders and every member of Parliament.

As cannabis users gather to celebrate 4/20, there is rising fear that corporate profiteering will destroy weed’s homegrown ethos. 

Simon Speakman Cordall is a freelance journalist in Tunisia.

Tunisia’s president Kais Saied embraced a Western far-right conspiracy. Beatings, stabbings, rapes and deportations of Black Africans followed.

Hobbies like hill walking and wild swimming are too often seen as the preserve of white people. But a new generation is challenging the prejudices that stop diverse communities enjoying the great outdoors.

Ben Clinton is a political activist and freelance journalist. Originally from London, he now lives in East Sussex, working in Comms for the anti-monarchy pressure group Republic. He is also the Campaign Co-ordinator for Labour for a Republic.

Inspired by the success of Starbucks United in the US, baristas in the UK are organising too - but fear corporate backlash is imminent. 

Daniella Peled is Managing Editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), an NGO working in two dozen countries experiencing conflict, crisis and transition around the world. IWPR's current Ukraine Justice Report project focuses on in-depth reporting and analysis of judicial processes taking place across the country and internationally. 

From the myths about Black people not feeling pain, to racist technology that discriminates against ethnic minorities, Dr Annabel Sowemimo's new book explores the urgent need to decolonise healthcare.

Prosecutors are breaking new ground by holding war crime trials - in real time. 

Adam Barnett is UK News Reporter at DeSmog. He is a former Staff Writer at Left Foot Forward and BBC Local Democracy Reporter. Adam has reported for The Guardian and written for Politics.co.uk and Little Atoms.

How Thatcher's chancellor made climate denial a Tory value.

Plant knowledge is on the decline: a study of UK students found only 14% could recognise more than three species of native plants. This is a serious problem. 

Residents in Urmston are locked in a bitter struggle with their management company. They are paying "extortionate fees", but have no idea where that money is going. 

After pushing his country to the brink of fratricidal conflict, Netanyahu feints a pause on his constitutional reform project. But none of the laws have been withdrawn, and when protests return, they'll be met by a new pro-government militia. 

Lauren Crosby Medlicott is a freelance journalist who focuses on features about social justice and human rights.

Women seeking asylum in the UK to escape homophobic communities already face unique obstacles. Now, they might be sent to countries that are patently unsafe. 

Working in bars and cafes is traditionally seen as gruelling as precarious - too precarious for staff to organise. But this is starting to change. 

Robert Palmer is the Executive Director of Tax Justice UK, an organisation which campaigns for everyone in the UK to benefit from a fairer and more effective tax system. 

As we approach the end of the tax year, consider this: a multi-millionaire like Sunak enjoys a lower overall tax rate than many of the people driven to strike action. 

Rivers full of plastic, beaches full of sewage, fens all but gone and half the native species already extinct. This isn't a dystopia, but today's reality - unless both major parties take on a new approach. 

I spent decades dodging the true-crime documentary that showcased my family’s trauma. Then, just as Netflix was set to revive it, came my chance to show what happens after the credits roll. 

Tanja Bueltmann is a historian of migration and diaspora and holds a Chair in International History at the University of Strathclyde. Her research is focused primarily on Scottish, English and German migration, but she has recently also looked at migration in the context of Brexit. Brought up in Germany and a student of history at Bielefeld University, Tanja also brings her personal perspective on Vergangenheitsbewältigung, having been educated in Germany at a time when there was a particularly robust public discussion of how to deal with Germany’s Nazi past. 

Adult autism diagnoses are on the rise - and nightlife is finally catching up, offering more sensory options for neurodivergent adults.

A latex glove in one hand, a polishing cloth in another, the Chancellor tried putting a sheen on our worst downturn in centuries. It didn't take. 

Growing up in Germany, I was taught about the rise of Nazism. It’s vital to call out even the early symptoms.

George Gillett is a psychiatrist working in south London, academic researcher at King’s College London and a freelance writer. He has written for the Guardian, New Statesman, Spectator and Independent, among others. He tweets at @george_gillett and his writing can be found at www.georgegillett.com.

The film that dominated at the Oscars touched a nerve with generations that spend much of their time in online 'non-spaces', flitting between multiple realities and timelines, yearning for an escape. 

I am Englishman, a Christian, a teacher, a patriot, an admiral of the fleet, a golfer, a hunter and a chartered accountant - and trust me: Rishi Sunak's inquiry into sex education doesn't go remotely far enough. 

To the Chairperson of the BBC, Richard Sharp,

I am appalled by the BBC management's decision to suspend Gary Lineker from hosting Match of the Day, unless he agrees to stop voicing his personal view on a matter of great public interest - the government's appalling, dangerous rhetoric on asylum seekers. It is a blow to free expression in our country and a historic own goal for the Corporation. Only yesterday, the BBC said Gary will not be suspended or disciplined; less than 24 hours later, you choose to U-turn - and to lie about your decision, by issuing the false statement that Gary is stepping back of his own accord.

Let me be clear: Gary Lineker has absolutely nothing to apologise for.

First, Gary made his comment in his personal capacity, on his personal Twitter account, not on air. Second, he didn’t compare your patrons in the Tory party to Nazis - he merely said, as mildly as it can be said, that Suella Braverman’s rhetoric reminds him of the rhetoric employed in Germany in the 1930s. And third, he is far from the first to make this analogy - indeed, Joan Salter, an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor, made that same comparison, to Braverman’s face, as recently as last month.

We call on you to return Gary Lineker to Match of the Day before the next programme is out. And we call on all players, pundits and commentators to boycott the show until Gary is back in place. 

Yours,

Making their return to the UK this month with five live dates, Kælan Mikla explore the darkness and light of Iceland's rich history.

Maddy Howell is a freelance journalist and community specialist with focuses on features and profiles within music culture, feminism, and social affairs. Her work delves into the inspiration and emotion that bring art to life, and the ways in which communities form and thrive in modern culture.

Sian Norris is a freelance journalist and writer specialising in human rights. Her work has appeared in the Observer, the Guardian, the i, the New Statesman, openDemocracy, and Byline Times. Sian's book Bodies Under Siege: How the far right attack on reproductive rights went global is published by Verso in June 2023. She was the founder of the Bristol Women's Literature Festival. 

We asked the Home Office if they have any performance indicators for the cruel policies implemented by Sunak and Braverman. They said they do not - and the general statistics they referred us to suggest that so far, their policies are having the opposite effect. 

Jail Time Records has just released its eclectic first album, made exclusively with incarcerated artists - a selection from more than 500 songs produced by the studio. We spoke with producer and co-founder Vidou-H.

Margie Ratliff is a co-producer and key participant of the documentary Subject, where she examines her participation in the 2018 Netflix true-crime documentary, The Staircase. She is currently starting the non-profit, Documentary Participants Empowerment Alliance, to bring mental health, legal, counseling, advocacy, and mentorship resources to past, present, and future documentary participants.

Fred Garratt-Stanley is a freelance writer who specialises in music, culture, and football. He has written for a wide range of publications including GQ, NME, Huck, Dazed, The Quietus, and Vice.

Panic and greed fuel spike in tenants being evicted under the infamous "Section 21" - but the stage for the crisis has been set by decades of bad policy. 

Sabrina is a writer, filmmaker and anthropologist from London. Her first documentary, ‘Kings Of Our Own Right,’ was selected across multiple European festivals, and she is currently in post-production for a documentary about sex workers rights in North Macedonia. Sabrina has written for Girls On Tops, Trippin’ and Wonderland.

In his new football novel 'Your Show', Ashley Hickson-Lovence explores Rennie’s legacy and the shocking lack of diversity in British refereeing.
 

Aleksandar Brezar is a journalist, editor, and podcast host whose main motive in journalism is to take apart your misconceptions about Eastern Europe and the people who live there. After having lived and reported everywhere from Brussels to Kyiv, he currently resides in Rome. He edits opinion articles at Euronews View. 

We look at why self-appointed crusaders, white supremacists and ultra-misogynists drift to Romania and the Balkans, and what they actually find. 

You have access to far, far more land than you think you do - but finding that out takes sleuthing. From slavery records to ancient tree maps, here is how to find out who owns what - and where you come in. 

The attack on a Black girl by a gang of white teenagers makes clear the UK education system falls far short of its duty of care for Black children.

Charlie is an award-winning freelance journalist, book editor, columnist, host, and creative with focuses on features and profiles on identity, culture, lifestyle, travel, media, and social politics.

She is a Managing Editor at Skin Deep, a former Senior Staff Editor at the New York Times and the former Editor-in-Chief at gal-dem magazine. Charlie has written and edited for a variety of publications, including the Guardian and Observer, Dazed, and the Financial Times.

The play uses verbatim accounts from the contentious trial that followed the racially-motivated murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

Israel is teetering on the brink between an authoritarian overhaul to rival Orban's, a popular revolt and an economic implosion. What comes next - and where does it leave the Palestinians?

Yas Necati (they/them) is a writer and performance poet who explores queer and trans identity, diaspora identity, mental health, recovery, community and resistance. They also campaign for queer rights, run workshops with campaigners, and perform as their drag act alter-ego, Turkish pop star Tarkan. You can find them at yasnecati.co.uk and @yas_necati on social media.

“Cyprus is an identity crisis”: On an island with a long history of colonisation and criminalised homosexuality, LGBTQ+ communities - in the UK and in Cyprus - are building connections that transcend the border between north and south.

Danielle Evans is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University and the author of short story collections, The Office of Historical Corrections and Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self. Her first collection won the PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize, the Hurston-Wright award for fiction, and the Paterson Prize for fiction; her second won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and The Bridge Book Award and was a finalist for The Aspen Prize, The Story Prize, and The LA Times Book prize for fiction. She is the 2021 winner of The New Literary Project Joyce Carol Oates Prize, a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and a 2011 National Book Foundation 5 under 35 honoree. 

An extract from Virgins, the opening story in Danielle Evans’ frank and funny collection exploring the lives of African American teens struggling to find a place in their community. 

The East London singer-songwriter dives into the messy, turbulent world of modern love and dating on his delicate, humorous compilation, influenced by 90s slow jams. 

Jumi Akinfenwa is a freelance journalist specialising in music and culture. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, VICE and gal-dem amongst others and in 2020, she was listed as one of MHP’s 30 to Watch and PITCH Magazine's Superpeople.

Joana Ramiro is a journalist, writer, broadcaster and political commentator. 

In a world of Pornhub and dating apps, where desire is commodified and lucrative, tenderness can feel rare and subversive. Three artists explore it in the Liminal Gallery, Margate. 

From the UK to the US, under 25's are unionising in droves, with 60% to 156% leaps in youth membership in some cases. What does it mean for the future of work - and for the ballot box? 

Youds, who ran a not-for-profit cannabis shop, was apprehended by police on his way to deliver homemade, full-extract cannabis oil to a terminally-ill cancer patient near Birmingham. The case lays bare the patchiness of UK's drug laws. 

There’s an old adage that profit is reward for innovation and risk-taking. That’s BS. Shell and BP are raking it in because we’ve let them own the market - environment be damned. 

Kimberly McIntosh is a writer and researcher with a focus on racial justice and inequality. She has written for a range of publications including the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Independent, the Metro and Vice and discussed her work on BBC Radio 4 and 5 Live, BBC News and Sky News. 

From TikTok to the Church of England, reparations talk is going deeper, wider - and more practical

Neuroscientist and psychonaut Zeus Tipado on how psychedelics and virtual reality intersect, what it has to do with Voodoo and Jesus Christ, and why the most mind-blowing thing here is the human brain.  

Far from succeeding humans, machine learning desperately needs humans to succeed. But the emerging market for educating robots is a dark one. 

Adele Zeynep Walton is a British Turkish journalist, specialising in global inequality, politics and popular culture. She has written for The Independent, the i, Dazed, VICE, Metro, The Big Issue, Jacobin, Open Democracy, Tribune, Huck, gal-dem, The New Arab and more. Adele is also DAZED's first ever political book columnist.

The British national narrative of slavery and empire is as selective as it is crude. A new exhibition, These Things Matter, explores the items that embedded these atrocities into our everyday lives. 

Andra Simons is a Bermudian writer and performer living in London, UK. He studied theatre in Toronto, Canada. Andra’s first collection of poetry, The Joshua Tales (Treehouse Press) was published in 2009 and Turtlemen (Copy Press) in 2021. Andra has held workshops and lectured at various universities in the UK. He has also been published in several magazines, journals and anthologies as well as performed at numerous events, venues and festivals. Andra is the current Writer-in-Residence at the University of Greenwich. Photo ©Ajamu.

Gary Allen is a Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor for Victoria Ward in Hartlepool. 

Lian is a senior multimedia reporter for Rappler.com, one of the few independent media outlets available in the Philippines. She covers human rights, justice, corruption and international law. Currently in the UK as a Chevening scholar, she has been given express permission to write for The Lead. You can read her Rappler work here.

Unlike the U.S. and Brazil, who toppled their authoritarian populists, the Philippines replaced Duterte with Bongbong Marcos - the son of deposed dictators Imelda and Ferdinand. Rappler.com's Lian Buan explores where the opposition may have gone wrong.

More and more people are paying rent to their mates - but this leaves occupiers unprotected and unsure of their rights. 

My town just won Levelling Up money - but it'll go into building a "TV Production Village," even as hungry kids trudge to school in subzero temperatures. This isn't levelling up. This is Tory theatrics. 

Ruby Deevoy is one of the UK’s few dedicated cannabis and psychedelics journalists. Bylines include The Independent, The Mirror, The Times, The Sun, The Express, The Metro, Evening Standard, Stylist, Woman & Home, Top Santé, Natural Health, Red, Platinum, Chat! and others.

You're hardly saving democracy by shutting down George Galloway and his ilk.

Serial rapist David Carrick told his victims that as a police officer, he can get away with anything. He was right. And he’s neither the first nor the last. It's high time to consider tearing down the system that enabled him. 

Content warning: Mentions of sexual violence.

Shahed Ezaydi is a freelance journalist based in London, covering politics, race, culture, and social issues. She has written for gal-dem, The Face, Dazed, Glamour, and more. She's currently working on her first book, The Othered Woman: How White Feminism Harms Muslim Women.

The attempted coup against the left-wing Brazilian president was only the beginning: Bolsonaro left behind a state apparatus riddled with military men. Lula's future depends on whether he accommodates them - or brings them to heel. 

Jamil Chade is a Brazilian reporter in Europe for several news groups in Brazil and the author of seven books. He has reported from over 70 countries, and uncovered major corruption scandals in Brazil.  He was elected as the best Brazilian foreign correspondent twice - in 2011 and 2013, and  in 2015 he was chosen as one of the 40 most influential journalists in Brazil. Chade was one of the researchers of the National Truth Commission, created by the government of Brazil to investigate crimes and violations of human rights committed during the military regime in the country. 

Azeem is an anti-racism campaigner and former professional cricketer. Following his time as captain of the England under-19s, he played for several first-class county clubs, this included Yorkshire, where he suffered racist bullying. In 2020 he spoke out and pursued legal action. Since then, Azeem has become a cricket coach, and a powerful advocate for diversity and inclusion.

An FA panel has said John Yems is "not a conscious racist" - it's a familiar story of gaslighting victims and protecting perpetrators. 

This was supposed be the year of health and freedom. Instead, many of us seem to barely recover from one ailment before succumbing to another. Here's what can be done. 

Emmanuel is an educator, writer and speaker. He is also the director of the charity program called The Reach Out Project. 

The ultra-disciplinarian headteacher stepped down from her Social Mobilities role, but will continue to fan the flames of culture wars in education. Pity the children. 

Once upon a time, teaching offered social mobility, a great pension package, a chance to save for a house - and recognition and respect from the community. Today even writing this feels like a bit of a farce. 

The "Minimum Services" bill is so vague it would allow any passing minister to force as many people into work as they please - eliminating more that just the right to strike. It's among the most dictatorial laws proposed in Britain in recent memory. 

Why do the Tories insist on removing protections from children once they turn 16? 

We've been around journalism too long to think that merely telling a story changes much. Most failures have architects, and next year, we want to start holding them to account - with your help. 

Eman is a Nairobi-based freelance journalist. 

The triple whammy of pandemic, war and climate change is ending the age of abundance in the West. How will the near future look like, and what does it mean for the UK? 

Taking time out for yourself in the midst of a struggle can feel selfish. But avoiding burnout allows us to fight for longer. Can we take self-care and well-being away from influencers and back into the community and the movement? 

Omolola Ogunyemi is an author born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria, before moving to the US to study. Her short stories have been published in Farafina and New Writing from Africa 2009. Her latest novel Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions was chosen as an Editor's Pick in the New York Times.

Boys accompanying women without hijabs. Women wearing hijabs protesting alongside those who refuse. Strangers sheltering beaten, tear-gassed protesters. And even a Free Hugs stall as an act of defiance. Filmmaker and poet Tara Aghdashloo chronicles the moments of light that keep her and other Iranians going into the new year. 

Children born in the first blush of the pandemic will be thirty years old in 2050 -  with “large-scale drought, famine, heat stress, species die-off, loss of entire ecosystems, and loss of habitable land" as the best-case scenario. But they are our last, best hope.

The Reading Room: An extract from a powerful new novel that illuminates the lives of a generation of Nigerian women through a set of interlocking stories.

The Secret Paramedic is a veteran paramedic in the UK. He's writing anonymously to sidestep NHS guidelines on speaking to the press. 

I am a paramedic. We just want to help, but years of underfunding, scandals, privatisation, Brexit and COVID leave us at the gates of hell. 

The only effect of Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak casting Albanians as a threat is more xenophobia in the UK, and anger and perplexity in Tirana. 

Alice Taylor is a British journalist based in Albania. She is news editor at EURACTIV and their Albania and Kosovo correspondent. She also covers the region for DW, BBC, and occasionally The Times Before Albania, she lived in Malta where she was a columnist in local media and worked for award winning investigative platform The Shift News. She is also a board member at the Ethical Media Alliance and she teaches and speaks on media freedom and ethics.

The five-point plan to combat illegal migration is a desperate tangle of half-truths draped mostly over reheated old policies. The only potential for change it holds is for the worse. 

Barrister and rights activist, specialising in migration, equality and international law. Practising law from Doughty Street Chambers since 2000.

Every year, young people working in Christmas retail are overworked, bullied and underpaid. I'm one of them. 

All life on our planet is interconnected and our future depends on treating it with compassion and respect. By recognising this, we can protect the world’s wildlife and soils as if our life depends on it – because it does. As things stand, we only have sixty harvests left. 

Oliver Somer is a freelance journalist.

Text generators aren't coming for most newsroom jobs - yet. But news media dependency on search trends means AI already has significant sway over what journalists get assigned, and who gets to read it. 

While the world moves on, the UK government is trying to fob off northerners with an outdated project that is economically, socially and environmentally destructive - and that will entrench, rather than resolve, poverty in Cumbria. 

Bali, a longtime centre of Hinduism in Indonesia, has been transformed by Westerners seeking Instagrammable enlightenment. We take a look at the gurus and ley lines, crypto-bros and digital nomads - and speak to the indigenous healers still serving communities beyond the social media haze. 

Katie Hignett is a freelance journalist based in London. She has a background in health, science and anthropology, and has written for publications including Forbes, Metro.co.uk and Newsweek. Her investigative work on pandemic preparedness for HSJ was recognised as "Excellence in Reporting Coronavirus" by Press Gazette.

Philippa Nuttalll is an experienced journalist based in Brussels focusing on climate, energy and biodiversity. She was previously Environment Editor at the New Statesman and has written for the Financial Times, Prospect and the New Scientist.

It's tempting to greet the return of Benjamin Netanyahu for a sixth term as business as usual. His new allies, and the way he's accommodating them so far, suggests it's anything but. 

Minnie is a writer and campaigner specialising in migrants’ rights, climate change and social justice.  After working in both the European and UK Parliament for 5 years as a political advisor, she went on to lead campaigns at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. 

We need a police investigation. 

Over the summer, brigades battling record wildfires were outnumbered, even as fire engines stood dormant in garages for lack of staff. Then came winter - and the prospect of a real-terms pay cut. We spoke to the firefighters gearing up for a desperate attempt to save their service. 

High-profile judicial review appeals have become a favoured tactic among liberals. But we're not in the United States - and these campaigns risk distracting from far more important battlegrounds. 

David Renton is a barrister at Garden Court and the author of Against the Law: Why Justice Requires Fewer Laws and a Smaller State. 

Western populists who attain power often have to unpick with democratic safeguards before indulging their appetite for autocracy. But in Italy, many fascist laws and attitudes never went away - and now have a 'post-fascist' prime minister unafraid to wield them. Long under threat, freedom of expression could be among the first to be hit. 

Rachael Pells is a freelance journalist and author who writes regularly about science and research, among other things. Her book, Genomics: How genome sequencing will change our lives is published by Penguin.

Jess McCabe is a deputy editor at Inside Housing magazine. She focuses on housing, sustainability and diversity. 

Angelo Boccato is a London-based freelance journalist. His work has appeared in publications like the Columbia Journalism Review, The Independent, and Open Democracy. He co-hosts the podcast Post Brexit News Explosion.

The division between "freehold" and "leasehold" is a monster hybrid of medieval law and postwar housing booms, unique to England and Wales. The cross-party move for reform has been stymied by Tory leadership convulsions. Now campaigners hope it can get back on track. 

Less frontline journalist memoir and more instruction manual for anyone navigating bullshit, How To Stand Up To A Dictator tracks Maria Ressa's journey: from young girl squaring up to bullies in a New Jersey school to Nobel Laureate seeing off the strongmen and kleptocrats of the Philippines. 

The e-vehicle revolution has been overwhelmingly confined to private cars. But what about HGVs? And can early morning waste removal trucks ever go truly green? We look at the challenges and opportunities ahead. 

Yes, this year's summit, like every summit, fell short of what is needed. But the overall trajectory is progress. This is not the time to give up on the world's only functional framework to tackle climate change. 

The Jeremy Hunt cuts are less radical than those of the 2010's, but they accumulate on top of the original austerity drive - the prime engine of Britain's epic economic slowdown. Here is how we break the doom loop. 

Initiatives by K-pop fandoms have planted over 100,000 trees worldwide, making a palpable contribution to offsetting emissions. Now fans up the pressure on Korean record companies to commit to greener operations, and hope global leaders take note. 

Dr. Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. His research focuses on climate science and climate change. He was awarded the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geophysical Union in 2012. He made Bloomberg News' list of fifty most influential people in 2013.  He has received the Friend of the Planet Award from the NCSE, the Award for Public Engagement with Science from the AAAS, and the Leo Szilard Award of the American Physical Society. He received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2019 and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2020. He is a Fellow of the AGU, AMS, GSA, AAAS, author of more than 200 publications, numerous op-eds and commentaries, and five books including Dire Predictions, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, The Madhouse Effect, The Tantrum that Saved the World, and The New Climate War.

Soo is a South Korean reporter based in London, UK. She is a South Korea expert who regularly covers Korean culture/entertainment, including the latest K-dramas, films and K-pop news. She has covered the COVID-19 pandemic at Newsweek and was a long-time travel reporter/editor at the Daily Telegraph.  She is the author of How to Live Korean, available in eight languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Slovak).

Alcohol, testosterone and emotion: Getting home from the pub surrounded by drunk football fans will be even more dangerous for women this winter.

The Reading Room: The champion ocean rower reflects on pollution and rising sea levels from the close vantage point of a trans-oceanic rowboat, and considers why even today it's hard to make the global North grasp the scale and the urgency of the crisis. 

Rosalind Savage is an environmentalist and ocean adventurer. She has rowed solo across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans to raise awareness of the ecological crisis and has earned four Guinness World Records and an MBE. A former management consultant, Roz has just finished writing The Ocean in a Drop: Navigating from Crisis to Consciousness, published by Flint Books.

Scott Benton, Conservative MP for Blackpool South, said his constituents could “only dream” of being as “well-cared” for as detained asylum seekers. Have 12 years of Tory rule left his town that destitute? We went to find out. 

"The end of the regime would be the ideal outcome. Stopping the killing of demonstrators would be an ideal outcome." The award-winning British-Iranian artist speaks to us about the ongoing uprising in Iran. 

Louisa Jordan is a pseudonym. The author is a community nurse in the NHS, and has asked to remain anonymous.

When ‘clap for carers’ was introduced, it made us feel appreciated. But little else was done, and we are at breaking point. Striking is our very last resort.

Conversations around race, gender and sexuality have evolved, but we still have a tendency to demand clear-cut answers. Which box do you tick? Which bathroom will you use? Alabanza is more interested in the spaces between the definitions: the murkier, more human realm of uncertainty. 

Netanyahu's return to power arm in arm with proudly homophobic racist is not "more of the same". It's a helluva lot worse. But it might spring new alliances, too. 

When Paul Powlesland moored his boat on the Roding in 2017, the river was choked with slime and garbage. Now the community that sprung up around is keeping its waters clear - and Powlesland is turning to the next challenge: securing rivers their human rights. Jon Moses reports. 

Matthew Williams is a Professor of Criminology and is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts in hate crime and hate speech. He advises and has conducted research for TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Google, EE, Deutsche Telekom, The Professional Footballers’ Association, the UK Home Office, and the US Department of Justice. Matthew also founded and directs HateLab, a not-for-profit academic unit with a mission to democratise technology amongst civil society organisations to routinely monitor and counter online hate speech and divisive disinformation.

There's no paper trail linking specific Conservative talking points to the firebombing of the immigration detention centre in Dover. But 12 years of consistently dehumanising asylum seekers  is what enabled this attack, and it may not be the last one. 

"Publishing tells us the majority voice is the white middle-class male - this just is not the reality."

Rishi Sunak's rise to No.10 is a great step for one British-Asian man, but a much smaller step for minorities. 

Just as with any civil war, the seemingly tiny conflicts on the fictional Irish island of Inisherin are deeply meaningful. An essential film in every sense. 

Blackouts weren't supposed to be happening to my generation of Britons. But it's increasingly likely we'll have hours of them this winter. Here is how people are stocking up. 

Western observers are trying to reduce the story of Iran's uprising to cliches. They fixate on sanctions or try to pretend a regime that butchers feminists is some kind of a reasonable alternative to US imperialism. As Iranians, our only weapon against these deadly fallacies is stories of those we lost - and those still fighting. 

Dhruti Shah is a multi-award winning journalist. Formerly a staffer at BBC News specialising on the social beat, she is now a freelance wordsmith with features appearing in The Guardian and New Arab among others. She's the author of Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms, offers herself up as a brainstorm buddy, and loves magical mystery tours. 

Padraig Reidy is editor of Little Atoms. He has also written for the Observer, the Irish Times, the Guardian, Prospect and the New Statesman. 

Shaista Aziz is a journalist, writer, and campaigner. She’s a columnist for Hypen and writes regularly for The Guardian. Her writing has been published by The New York Times, The Times, CNN, Huffington Post, Gal-dem, Globe and Mail, and more.  Shaista presented a critically acclaimed BBC TV documentary on what it means to be young, French and Muslim, following the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack.

Omid Shams is an Iranian writer in exile, a member of Danish PEN and a PhD law academic at the University of Portsmouth specialising in freedom of expression, modern and indirect methods of censorship. He cooperates with human rights organisations and media outlets such as Justice for Iran and IranWire on documenting the human rights violations in Iran. 

A key argument made for Johnson's return goes something like this: we're not foisting on you another unelected prime minister, we're reverting to the prime minister you've already elected. That's a lie. Elections aren't won for life. 

A new art installation in Gladstone Park commemorates Black migration and evokes themes of collective renewal.

One the most dangerous home secretaries in recent history is out of office, barely a day after blaming "Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati" for all the country's ills.  Celebrating? We have just the recipe for you. 

Boris Johnson won in 2019 on a promise to end the devastation of the Cameron-Osborne austerity era. The newly unelected Hunt government has no moral or democratic claim to withhold even a penny of public finances. 

Mic Wright is a journalist and media critic based in Norwich.

Sweetly tell a labrador it’s a prick, and its tail will wag as if you said you loved it. This is how many political journos acted after Hunt's first media round.

Adam Wagner is one of the UK’s leading human rights barristers and the UK's pre-eminent expert on COVID-19 laws. He was described in the House of Lords as ‘the only person in the country who can make sense of this variety of regulations’. He practises from Doughty Street Chambers.

For two years, freedoms we thought untouchable were torn away, and immense, intrusive power over the smallest details of our lives was handed over to a small group of people in government. It is essential we understand how this happened and why.

Under Starmer, the Labour party has taken up an increasingly punitive tone on crime and prisons, to court right-wing voters. The collapse of the Tory vote is an opportunity to stop talking tough and adopt a crime policy that would actually work. 

Admitting you need help can be hard, but no hole in the ground is going to open up and swallow you. What's more, you're not alone. Accommodation, benefits, food, clothes and more - here's where to look. 

Ella Clayton's first album marks a transition from acoustic to folk-rock, and reveals a dogged songwriter fully coming into her own. 

Boyah J. Farah is an author, their writing has been featured in The Guardian, Harvard Transition, Scheer Intelligence at KCRW, Grub Daily and Truthdig. He is the winner of Salon's best essay of 2017. His essays have also appeared in Harvard's Kennedy School Review, Pangyrus magazine, and The Huffington Post.

Asking people about their salary history in interviews perpetuates discrimination. Let's give it a rest. 

The Reading Room: An extract from the new memoir about a boy who escaped war in Somalia only to land on the battlefield of American racism.

Overworked, burnt out, and reduced to food banks - healthcare workers tell us why letting our NHS implode is even more dangerous than taking to the picket lines. 

Ella is a freelance journalist specialising in worker's rights, youth culture, social affairs and lifestyle. You can find her work in Tribune Magazine, Huck Magazine, Novara Media, VICE, Dazed, metro.co.uk and The Lead.

Marie Le Conte is a French-Moroccan freelance political journalist based in London. She writes for, among others, the New Statesman, the Guardian, GQ, Vogue, the Sunday Times and the Independent. Her latest book, Escape: How A Generation Shaped, Destroyed And Survived The Internet, is out now.

The wake-like atmosphere at the conference was a grim backdrop to the prime minister's increasingly hysterical-sounding optimism. 

Dr Naomi Elster is Director of Research and Communications for a cancer research charity. As a scientist she was involved in getting a new breast cancer therapy to clinical trial, and as a journalist she covered science and women’s health, for which she was co-recipient of a national award. She campaigned for abortion decriminalisation in Ireland and led a mental health-themed creative magazine. She is passionate about the potential of research to improve lives, healthcare disparities, and gender equality.

Taj Ali is a writer with a focus on class and socio-economic inequality. His work has previously appeared in the Huffington Post, Metro and The Independent.

Membership is growing, and support for strikes is on the up. But they are not yet the united national force they could be. 

Derek Bardowell is the author of Giving Back, which reimagines philanthropy through a reparative lens and CEO of Ten Years’ Time. His first book No Win Race was a Sunday Times and Financial Times Book of the Year in 2019. Derek is a Thirty Percy Foundation and Mission 44 trustee.

Kwasi Kwarteng's budget is cosplay Reaganomics - but the UK cannot possibly recover in the same way America did.

Dimi Reider is a journalist and an editor, including at The Lead. He is a co-founder of  +972 Magazine, and his writing has appeared everywhere from The New York Times to Haaretz and from Foreign Affairs to the London Review of Books. He also spent some time as a senior editor at Newsweek, but he doesn't like to talk about it much. Dimi is also a facilitator with background in conflict mediation and currently focusing on journalism and trauma. 

James is an economist and director of the Progressive Economy Forum.

Cira Robinson, Ballet Black’s principal dancer, on humble beginnings, overcoming elitism, and building true inclusivity.  

Three things to remember: It's not your fault, it's policy; you're not alone; and you can survive this. 

Leah is Partnerships Editor at The Lead and is a multi-award-winning documentary director and journalist with roots in international current affairs. Their film The Mortician of Manila, the story of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs through the eyes of an undertaker, was long-listed for an Academy Award, nominated for a Grierson Award and has won over twenty awards around the world. Formerly at Sky News, Channel 4 News and APTN, Leah's role at The Lead involves forging outreach and partnership strategies and ensuring the sustainability of the project and its initiatives while upholding narrative and journalistic ethics and integrity.

Krista is a writer and award-winning social justice activist from Hackney, East London. An expert in child poverty and working in community development for Volunteer Centre Hackney, she's the founder of the Hackney Community Closet, a volunteer-led non-profit focused on empowering families and communities through the gift economy. She is the author of a series of childrens' non-fiction books and is working on her first novel.

The pandemic gave us the space to redress imbalances in our working lives. Is it time to rekindle the fight for a four-day working week? 

Serena is a news editor at Dazed and a columnist for Prospect. She has previously written for Vice, Refinery29, Huck, i-D, British Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Grazia. 

Yes, prices could crash. No, it won’t help you.

Journalist Faima Bakar explains why ignoring climate change will devastate the planet and Tory re-election hopes.

Institutional philanthropy has a problem - but there are better ways to support charitable causes.

Travel chaos, dystopian politics, a distinct lack of sex - this is why summer 2022 was a flop.

Natalie is a journalist, broadcaster, and the author of Mixed/Other - she specialises in social justice, inequality, lifestyle, health and wellbeing, and everything in-between. When she's not writing and editing for The Lead, you can find her work in the Guardian, Metro, Stylist, gal-dem, the Independent, and others. Mancunian living in London.

Bethan is a freelance features writer and producer specialising in pop culture. She loves asking people way too many questions and gets her ideas from conversations at the pub or listlessly scrolling through social media. You can find her work in Vice, iD, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, Metro UK, Pink News and now, here at The Lead.

Andy West is the author of The life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Philosophy  (Picador 2022). His writing has been published in The Guardian, Aeon, 3AM Magazine, and Huck.  He is philosopher in residence at HMP Brixton in London.

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Chaminda Jayanetti is a freelance journalist specialising in social affairs - housing, welfare and public services. He regularly writes for the Observer, Politics Home and Byline Times.

Jon is a freelance writer and the organiser of campaign group Right To Roam - a group fighting for free, fair and informed access to land and water throughout England.