Asked whether ministers would consider scrapping the planned tax rise in the wake of the energy price rises, Mr Miliband told the BBC: “Let me answer that by saying this, which is, I’ll be candid with you, we don’t know how long this conflict is going to go on and therefore, with five months to go until September, we will have to see where we are, obviously.”

If a general election were held today, many British voters would notice something that has been quietly changing for years. They have more choice on the ballot than they used to. The dominance of Labour and the Conservatives is being eroded by multi-party politics. The recent Gorton and Denton byelection clearly showed that the Green Party and Reform UK are emerging as serious forces. Elsewhere, Your Party is preparing to enter the race.

These changes have already fuelled renewed calls for electoral reform, particularly for the introduction of proportional representation. But the significance of a shift towards multiparty politics goes beyond the rules of the electoral system. It also has the potential to change the democratic role of political competition in the UK.

In any healthy democracy, it is essential that diverging opinions and different views about society and public policy can compete openly. Political parties express and organise this democratic competition. Yet in a two-party system, it is limited to a select few. Multiparty competition offers the possibility of a more open and inclusive political arena.

Many people in the UK today feel disconnected from politics. Trust in elected representatives is low, and it is not uncommon to hear that politicians are “all the same” or “only in it for themselves”. These sentiments are often treated as symptoms of the current political moment. But the sense of distance between “ordinary citizens” and professional politics has deeper roots. In fact, it is closely tied to a political system dominated by two parties.

Democratic theorists who prefer two-party systems typically argue that democratic politics works best if professional politicians compete over ideas and policies. Ordinary citizens only participate at the ballot box. In other words, the job of shaping political visions is left to the experts; the rest of us should stick to voting.

For them, democracy does not depend on ordinary citizens actively shaping policy. Instead, it is sufficient for political parties to compete for power. It is this competition that ensures that governments respond to voters’ preferences. After all, parties will only be elected (and governments re-elected) if their policies appeal to voters. In a system dominated by two parties, the theory goes, citizens need only vote, while parties adjust their policies to win elections.

But the widespread dissatisfaction with both Labour and the Conservatives, along with the rise of other political parties, shows that theory does not always match reality. Clearly, two-party competition does not automatically produce the kind of policies voters want.

Options are emerging

The fact that parties beyond Labour and the Conservatives now have a chance of winning power could shake things up. A wider range of parties does not just give voters more choices; it can also create new opportunities for people to get involved in politics themselves. New or growing parties have reason to set themselves apart from established elites. One way to do that is to be, or at least appear to be, more accessible and responsive to ordinary citizens. That might include inviting greater participation from ordinary people.

Your Party has clearly understood there is opportunity here and is experimenting with a collective leadership model and a system of random selection to attend its party conference.

Of course, there is no guarantee that new parties will enhance participation and replace old elites. From the start, the democratic experimentation of Your Party has been overshadowed by the tension between its founders, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, who made their political names in the Labour Party. Even more strikingly, recent defections of prominent Conservative politicians to Reform cast doubt on the party’s proclaimed anti-establishment orientation.

À lire aussi :
Survey shows support for electoral reform now at 60% – so could it happen?

Given the UK’s first-past-the-post system, it is also unclear whether today’s multiparty competition will last or whether politics will eventually settle back into a battle between two major parties.

The rise of new parties alone does not guarantee a more democratic Britain. Still, the current political moment holds hope: it points to the possibility of a democratic future in which the competition between different political visions for Britain offers more options to the public.

Hundreds of thousands of women are “missing out” on having children, partly because of a “delay” in young men maturing into adulthood, a report has claimed.

The Centre for Social Justice, a think tank founded by Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, said around three million women aged between 16 and 45 are projected not to have children under current trends. If birth trends were the same as their grandparents’ generation, then around 2.4 million women would not have children. It means around 600,000 fewer women are having children, it said.

The paper, published on Sunday, cited a range of reasons for falling birth rates, including declining marriage rates and the later average age at which women are having children. But the report also suggests “male employment and education trends may play a role in falling birth rates”.

The report said that, “in the past”, a 24-year-old man would have likely been married, had a child and been working for a decade, but now men are only leaving home at the age of 25 on average.

One way to tackle the UK’s falling birth rate is to encourage marriage at a younger age and for men to “enter adulthood” earlier than 25, the report said.

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The Centre for Social Justice was founded in 2003 by Sir Iain, a former minister for Work and Pensions under the Conservative government. The CSJ’s report is also supported by Miriam Cates, a former Tory MP who has been outspoken in her concern about declining fertility rates in Britain and has called for policies to promote marriage and having children.

Elsewhere, the report recommends that the government explore so-called “pro-natal” policies which incentivise people to start or grow families, such as tax cuts and conditions for benefit changes.

But it said creating financial incentives to have children without addressing low marriage rates is “putting the cart before the horse”, citing an analysis published in the Financial Times.

The FT article included in the report does not specify marriage but does link fertility to falling relationship rates. It said: “From the US, Finland and South Korea to Turkey, Tunisia and Thailand, falling birth rates are increasingly downstream of a relationship recession among adults. Baby bonuses put the cart before the horse when a growing share of people are without a partner. Even in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, similar trends may be underway.”

The think tank’s suggestion to incentivise marriage through tax cuts comes after Reform UK MP Matt Goodwin was criticised for saying in a blog that people who don’t have children should be taxed extra as punishment.

The think tank said falling fertility rates could also impact the ratio needed between pensioners and working-age people, and said that to maintain the ratio, the state pension age would need to rise to 75 by 2039.

In a report published in January 2025, the UK’s Office for National Statistics said total fertility rates had fallen between 2012 and 2023.

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It also said fertility rates for women in all age groups under 30 years are projected to decrease, while age groups over 30 years are projected to increase between 2022 and 2047.

The ONS asked a panel of experts to outline various factors that could impact future fertility rates and found:

Staring at the text message I’d composed on my phone, I felt both ecstasy and fear.

It read: ‘I’m a woman, always have been. From this day on, I will live as a woman.’ 

Simple and direct. At the age of 33 in 2019, I was done with wasting time. 

Taking a deep breath, I hit send. Instantly, all my friends and family found out at the same time that I was trans. 

The responses were very telling. Especially from cisgender male friends. 

Before I came out as trans, l felt trapped in my male body prison.  

I’ve always known I was female. As a child I felt awful wearing boy clothes – it never felt right – and playing games with the boys was awful, too. I didn’t want to rough play – I wanted to brush dolls’ hair with the other girls and play hop scotch.  

In my teens I completely retreated into myself. I felt anxious and had no lust for life.

As an adult, I struggled to form meaningful relationships. I had a few close friends but I always felt hollow inside.

One day when walking through a park, a group of teens circled me on their bikes. They started throwing stones at me and shouting homophobic slurs.  

Following that incident, I felt like I was drowning, suffocating in my body. I simply could not live as a man a moment longer.

I couldn’t see a way out other than ending my life. The pain was all too much.

But just as I was about to do it, a soft voice cried, ‘Don’t let them win!’

I turned around to see an elderly woman. ‘They’re not worth it. Trust me dear, no matter who they are, they are not worth more than you,’ she continued. 

I collapsed to the ground and sobbed. It felt strangely good.

The woman helped me up, gave me a hug and asked if I was going to be OK. I nodded and started to walk back home.

If I saw her again, I would give her such a big hug. She saved my life that day. 

I wanted to live. Not as a shell of a person, but as my true uncensored self. That’s when I decided to send the text message to all of my family and friends. 

The response to my coming out ranged from affirming, to lukewarm, to outright hostile. 

A family member even disowned me and said to my mum while I was in earshot: ‘How could it do this to our family?’

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I was referred to as an ‘it’.

My female friends reacted best. They were eager to help me buy clothes and make-up, which was lovely, even if it did make me feel like a fancy new accessory for them to show off with.  

My male friends, on the other hand, became incredibly uncomfortable around me. 

One close male friend, Kyle*, in particular said some very telling things. 

He didn’t reply to my text. However when we met for a drink a couple of days later Kyle blurted out: ‘I thought you just batted for the other team?’ 

In his estimation, I couldn’t possibly be a woman. I was just a campy gay man. I didn’t even know how to properly explain it myself to him. 

But his offensive remarks didn’t stop there. He also asked when I was ‘getting the op’, meaning when was I having gender-affirming care. I remember just saying, ‘I don’t know but I’m definitely a woman’.

I felt flustered and uncomfortable. It was beginning to upset me.  

He also said, ‘We can’t have the banter with you anymore’; banter, of course, being that not-so-thinly-veiled casual sexist commentary men often have at the pub. I took this to mean ‘We can’t chat about women around you now’. Not that I was bothered – that kind of chat always made me feel uncomfortable. 

And finally: ‘Does this mean you’re no longer one of the lads?’ – which felt like Kyle was throwing me out of the boys club.

I burst into tears. The pain of rejection was overwhelming. I made an excuse that I had to leave to get up early. When I got home I cried myself to sleep.  

I stopped talking to him for a couple of weeks. 

Meanwhile, other male friends didn’t invite me out for drinks as often and were more abrupt in conversations with me. They would say hi and then leave a long and very awkward silence – like they didn’t know what to say.

Once, I was walking through a park with an old friend and he got all embarrassed when a woman he knew passed us; he was worried that she thought I was his girlfriend.  

As a result of all this, I spent most of my time hanging out with other women. But gradually, they began to drift away too.

They’d had this idea of me that suddenly shattered. No longer was I the shy, meek, and chronically anxious man. I was quickly becoming a strong, fierce, and courageous woman. 

I never felt truly accepted in their company, which led me to become increasingly uncomfortable.

Then something remarkable happened. I started to meet and become friends with other trans people at support groups, meetups, and gigs. 

Before long, my entire friend circle was trans people. And in many ways, it’s just easier – you don’t have to explain anything to them, they just get it. 

You don’t have to exhaust yourself explaining what trans is to them. There is no weirdness around your transition because you share a similar lived experience.  

My life now is great. I have loads of supportive trans people in my life and I could not be happier.  

I do sometimes miss my cisgender male friends. The silliness and nights out together were a lot of fun.

But I don’t regret sending that mass text message – even if it meant I had some uncomfortable conversations. Now I know who my real friends are.

Name has been changed

Originally published October 12th, 2025

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

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F1’s bosses are caught in the middle of this debate, recognising the superficial appeal of the back-and-forth racing, but concerned about what the new cars are doing to the sport they grew up loving because they were attracted by its essence as the ultimate test of driver and machine.

Andrea Stella, team principal of world champions McLaren, said: “In qualifying, there’s some aspects of driving that could be counterintuitive.

“Like, occasionally there are comments from our drivers that once they make a mistake, actually save some energy, you go faster overall in a sector, because the energy you saved with the delay on the throttle because you had a problem is going to reward you at the end of the straight.”

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff said: “From an entertainment perspective, I believe that what we’ve seen today between Ferrari and McLaren was good racing. Many overtakes.

“We were all part of Formula 1 where there was no overtake, literally. Sometimes we’re too nostalgic about the good old years.

“But I think the product is good in itself. We saw quite some racing in the midfield also. And that is, I think, the positive.

“Now, from a driver’s standpoint, when it comes to the qualifying lap, that is different. Clearly, lift and coast in the qualifying, I’m sure for someone like Max, who is a full-attack guy, it’s difficult to cope and digest.

“Qualifying flat-out would be nice. But when you look at the fans and the excitement that is there, live, the cheering when there’s overtakes and also on social media, the younger fans, the vast majority, through all the demographics, like the sport at the moment.

“So, yes, we can always look at how we’re improving it. But at the moment, all the indicators and all the data say people love it. And I spoke with Stefano (Domenicali, the F1 president). He says that, too.”

The cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix gives the sport a little more breathing space to consider all this.

There is a meeting of team bosses with F1 and governing body the FIA this week, and another race in Japan in two weeks’ time before a five-week break before the next Grand Prix in Miami at the beginning of May.

A number of ideas to reduce the degree to which the purity of the driving experience has been polluted are already in the mix, such as removing a lower limit for energy recovery currently in force in a certain phase of the straights. And others may yet emerge.

Stella says: “Do we want to be faithful to the DNA of racing in a traditional sense? Do we accept that this counterintuitive situation belongs to the business or not? This is a high-level philosophical question.”

Among the famous faces hoping to win an Oscar tonight is Jessie Buckley, an Irish actress, who is nominated for her performance as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes, historically known as Anne, in Hamnet, and she is the only performer considered to be a shoo-in for one of the top prizes.

Buckley said she is “honoured” to be nominated in the best actress category.

The Oscars is set to be one of the most unpredictable ceremonies in recent history.

Actors and actresses with the most Oscars

The best actor, best supporting actress and best supporting actor categories remain unpredictable, after a variety of winners at precursor ceremonies.

Who is nominated for best actor at The Oscars 2026?

The nominees for the best actor in a leading role are:

• Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle after Another
• Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
• Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
• Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

The nominees for the best actor in a supporting role are:

• Benicio Del Toro – One Battle after Another
• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo – Sinners
• Sean Penn – One Battle after Another
• Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Who is nominated for best actress at The Oscars 2026?

The nominees for the best actress in a leading role are:

• Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
• Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
• Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
• Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
• Emma Stone – Bugonia

The nominees for the best actress in a supporting role are:

• Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan – Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
• Teyana Taylor – One Battle after Another

Recommended reading:

There are also awards for people who work behind the scenes on films, including cinematography, casting, costume design, directing and more.

You can see all the nominees and awards on the Oscars’ website.

Can you watch the 2026 Oscars in the UK?

The Oscars will be broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX from 10.15pm tonight.

Talk show host and Celebrity Traitors star Jonathan Ross will host the ceremony, which will go on until 2.35am.

Three people have been arrested as protesters and counter-protesters have assembled on separate sides of the River Thames for the al-Quds day demonstration in central London, police said.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it has arrested three people so far, one for showing support for a proscribed organisation, one for dangerous driving and a third for threatening and abusive behaviour.

Police have been bracing for thousands of people to attend, with hundreds of officers seen in the area.

Scores of people began arriving from 1pm, many holding Palestine flags and banners, some reading “Free Palestine” and “No to Israeli occupation”.

Pictures of Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were also held up, some accompanied by the message “Choose the right side of history”.

The annual al-Quds day demonstration in London had drawn criticism over apparent backing for the Iranian regime after its organisers expressed support for the country’s late leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A counter-protest has also been planned, co-organised by Stop The Hate and The Lion Guard of Iran group, with police using the River Thames to block the demonstrations from clashing. Iranian dissidents are expected to be among the attendees, Stop The Hate said.

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This week, home secretary Shabana Mahmood granted a police request for a month-long ban on the march organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), marking the first such protest restriction since 2012.

Despite the ban, participants can still legally assemble for a “static protest,” with the IHRC stating the demonstration will proceed “in defiance of a government ban on the march.”

In a post on X, the Metropolitan Police said: “Protesters have assembled on both sides of the river. The al-Quds day protest on the Albert Embankment and the counter-protest in Millbank.

“Conditions are in place stating the protests must conclude by 1500hrs.”

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Police said those taking part in the al-Quds day protest must on Albert Embankment, on the south side of the River Thames, while the counter-protest must assemble on Millbank, the north side of the River Thames.

In a post on X, the police added that there will be increased officer presence in Westminster later.

It added,” Officers will be deployed to ensure the annual al-Quds Day march and a pro-Israel counter protest take place safely and lawfully, with any offences dealt with.”

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According to reports in The Sunday Times, a woman holding a sign in support of Palestine Action was seen being led away by officers. Footage showed the activist holding a placard that read: “I still oppose genocide. I still support Palestine Action.”

Hussain Shafiei from the Workers Party of Britain has spoken at al-Quds Day march, according to The Sunday Times.

He told the crowd: “The al-Quds march has happened 40 years peacefully; this is the first time it has been banned. They are so worried, they are so scared that the whole world has turned on Zionism.”

More to follow…

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East on Sunday in his strongest comments to date, directly addressing the leaders who launched the war in Iran.

“On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict,” Leo said. “Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for.”

Leo didn’t cite the United States or Israel by name in his comments at the end of his Sunday noon blessing. But history’s first U.S. pope mentioned the attacks that targeted a school, an apparent reference to the missile strike on an elementary school in Iran in the opening days of the war that killed over 165 people, many of them children.

U.S. officials have said outdated intelligence likely led to the United States launching the strike, and that an investigation is ongoing.

The Vatican has highlighted the carnage of the Minab strike, running an aerial photo of the mass grave being dug for the young victims on the March 6 front page of its official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, under the headline “The Face of War.”

Leo said he was close to the families of those who had been killed in the attacks “which have hit schools, hospitals and residential centers.” He expressed particular concern about the impact of the war in Lebanon, where aid groups are warning of a humanitarian crisis.

The plight of Christian communities in southern Lebanon is of particular concern to the Vatican, since they have long represented a bulwark for Christians throughout the majority Muslim region.

For the two weeks since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war, the pope has limited his comments to muted appeals for diplomacy and dialogue in an apparent attempt to avoid pitting himself as an American political counterweight to President Donald Trump. He hasn’t named the U.S. or Israel publicly, but that is also in keeping with the Vatican’s tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

On Friday, for example, in a speech to priests attending a Vatican class on the sacrament of confession, Leo said the sacrament was a workshop that restores unity and peace.

“One might well ask: do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?” he said.

But while Leo has sought to keep his messaging indirect and apolitical to avoid inflaming tensions, some of his U.S. cardinals and the Vatican secretary of state have not.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, said the war was morally unjustifiable. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said it was “sickening” how the White House was splicing video game imagery into its social media messaging about the war.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, rejected Washington’s claim of a “preventive war.” But he said this week that the Holy See was regardless keeping dialogue open.

“The Holy See speaks with everyone, and when necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions,” he said.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The victim is fighting for her life in hospital

A woman is in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed in a knife attack at a property. The incident unfolded at an address on Warwick Street in Accrington, Lancashire on Sunday (March 15).

Emergency crews, including police, paramedics and an air ambulance, raced to the scene at around 10.40am. A woman in her 30s was found with ‘a number of stab wounds’, police said.

She was rushed to hospital and the force said she is now fighting for her life in hospital in a critical condition. A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

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He remains in custody to be quizzed by detectives, police said. The investigating into the stabbing is ongoing, reports LancsLive.

Police say it is being treated as an ‘isolated incident’ however patrols have been ramped up in the area. One witness said: “Something very serious happened near the top of Warwick Street, Church. Ten police vehicles, three ambulances, air ambulance.

“Now police blue tape across the grass and a police officer standing outside. One ambulance went down Warwick Street, blue lights on and a police escort.”

In a statement Lancashire Constabulary said: “We were called to Warwick Street in Church at 10.40am today (March 15) following reports of an assault. Our officers have attended and found a woman in her 30s inside a property with a number of stab wounds.

“She has been taken to hospital in a critical condition. Following enquiries, a 39-year-old man from Church has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody at this time.

“This is being treated as an isolated incident between people known to each other. However, reassurance patrols will be increased in the area as a precaution and there will also be a number of officers in the area carrying out enquiries.

“If you have any concerns or you have any information which could assist our investigation, then please stop an officer for a chat. Alternatively, if you have information or mobile phone, doorbell, CCTV or dashcam footage which could assist our investigation team, then please call 101 and quote log 426 of March 15.”