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News flash: you need to wear sunscreen all year-round.

But if there’s one time you desperately need to slather yourself in SPF, it’s when there’s a literal heatwave happening.

I know, remembering to take it with you, let alone reapply it all day, can be a bore. Just remember that you’re doing it for your future self, though, and all complaints will suddenly be out the window.

Or, most likely, finding a formula that you really love will make putting it on feel like a meaningless task.

Plus, if you need an excuse to stock up, iHerb has a buy one, get one 50% off deal until the end of the summer, to save you excess cash on necessities (there are more fun things to splash out on in summer, after all!).

To help you find the suncreen on your dreams, I’ve rounded up seven of the best for every kind of skin type to shop now.

5 min read46 min

After nearly a decade of Conservative psychodrama, we cannot afford more lost years where Parliament fails to address the big challenges facing the country. The most fundamental duty of a Government is to protect its citizens, in the here and now, while also protecting them from foreseeable risks in the future. And the Government is failing to meet the moment, distracted by by-elections and leadership challenges.

Even before they began plotting to remove the Prime Minister, this Labour Government had learnt all the wrong lessons from the Conservatives’ time in office, gradually chipping away at Parliamentary scrutiny and weakening democratic accountability. There have been too many key announcements made outside the Chamber, and too many important areas not given time for debate. The clearest example is the Government’s failure to give proper time to scrutinise reports in Parliament that go to the heart of our national security, our economy and, ultimately, our very way of life. 

Take the Joint Intelligence Committee’s National Security Assessment on global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, which provides a clear picture of what the near future may hold. It shows that the loss of nature and biodiversity collapse is no longer just an environmental issue. It is now a direct threat to our national security, economy, and way of life. One of the most alarming projections is that a worsening global food supply could leave the UK food system increasingly vulnerable to hostile states. Another is that due to climate breakdown, the report says GDP could be 12% lower than it would otherwise have been by 2030. This fact, which was left out of the redacted report, was only revealed by ITV’s investigation, and is deeply problematic for the Government given that it has put so much stall on growth policy and failed to recognise that a healthy natural environment is fundamental to the operating of the economy. Climate-driven migration will also increase pressure on national infrastructure and contribute to more polarised politics. 

The only reason we know anything about these redacted reports is because of a freedom of information request from Green Alliance, which forced the Government to release the information. I first called for Parliament to be given time to scrutinise the report on 22 January. Since then, I have written to the Leader of the House, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs asking for a response. 

Amid all of this, in the last week, another report was published. This time, from the Government’s own watchdog, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), making it clear that we are dangerously ill-prepared for the impacts of climate change. After twenty years of successive Governments’ failure to properly confront the climate crisis, the CCC has now laid out a clear pathway for the action needed to better protect communities, infrastructure and essential services from the worsening impacts of extreme weather. Among the most dire warnings is that, in just a couple of decades, 9 in 10 of our homes are at risk of overheating. Water supply shortages may exceed five billion litres per day. And 40°C heatwaves will become the new normal across the UK, potentially leading to an additional 10,000 heat-related deaths per year. Without action, the Committee is clear that an increase of up to 4°C by the end of the century remains a possibility. To put it simply, if that happens, we won’t be able to adapt. There are no mitigations that will fully protect our food systems, infrastructure, economy or public health from the scale of disruption such a world would bring.

These are issues with profound long-term consequences, yet they have received no Parliamentary time and far too little media attention. The only logical conclusion is that the Government seems to have decided it is easier to avoid discussing these reports and confronting these warnings than to spell out what it plans to do. I understand the issues are very difficult, but it’s all the more reason to start addressing them sooner rather than later. Ministers know that the implications for food prices, the cost of living and national security are serious. Yet, instead of leading an open debate about how we respond and proposing a blueprint for where we go from here, they appear to be trying to avoid the issue and hoping it goes away.

Whoever leads this Government after September must have a laser focus on the transformative change needed to tackle the climate and nature emergency, and with it the cost of living crisis. The gravity of the warnings means there is no time to waste. The Government must focus on building the resilience of our food and energy systems to prepare the country for increasingly extreme conditions. While this is happening, we also need to heed the warnings of the dangers of ecosystem collapse.

What this would mean in practice is investing in flood defences, starting a programme of mass home insulation to cope with colder winters, and adapting buildings for hotter summers. All while preparing the public for what is coming, including opening mass cooling centres during extreme heat events and supporting communities in adapting their homes, workplaces, and daily lives to a rapidly changing climate.

We have a clear choice here: politicians can continue to be consumed by political theatre, or finally confront the realities of climate breakdown. Future generations will rightfully judge us on whether we rose to the moment, whether we acted on the warnings, or whether we kicked the can down the road yet again. The threats posed by our ecosystem’s collapse are no longer abstract, and the Government should take them with the seriousness they deserve. Ultimately, if the Government fails to prepare the country for it before the consequences become immeasurably worse. We will all pay the price. 

1) Plants not to let grow in the first place

2) Plants to stop in their tracks

3) Plants to keep a close eye on

4) Plants to let grow, despite being a bit of a pain

STEFAN ROUSSEAU via POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“Our messaging has been terrible”

– David Skaith, Labour mayor of York and North Yorkshire

The AUKUS programme, a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is intended to “promote a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.” (Credit: Malcolm Park/Alamy Live News)

4 min read1 hr

Aukus will bolster security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic, strengthen our most trusted alliances, and secure a vital technological advantage. Indeed, the Defence Committee found the partnership is more necessary than ever.

There is, too, a positive domestic story. Delivering a brand-new class of nuclear-powered submarines – the SSN-AUKUS class – to provide a common fleet for both the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy represents a crucial revitalisation of our industrial base. Aukus is not merely a foreign policy pact; it is a significant blueprint for British industrial expansion and economic growth.

Some 21,000 people will be working on the SSN-AUKUS in UK shipyards and across the supply chain at its peak. To meet the broader demands of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise, Britain’s nuclear workforce is forecast to increase by 40,000 by 2030. We are already seeing world-leading, highly oversubscribed skills academies stepping up to this challenge, creating highly skilled, high-wage jobs that will sustain families for decades.

The establishment of Defence Technical Excellence Colleges and the Defence Universities Alliance will better align education with our long-term industrial needs. A Defence Skills Passport will allow this highly trained workforce to move across the sector.

But delivering Aukus will require far more people than current plans can provide. This means new, innovative approaches to skills development are needed. We must build on what we already do well and use the unique recruitment opportunity to spread skilled jobs across the country.

Some £4 billion in contracts has already been signed for the design and prototyping of the SSN-AUKUS, alongside a £3 billion investment into advanced manufacturing capabilities. In 2025, a £9 billion contract was signed with Rolls-Royce to cover reactor design, manufacturing, and service. However, delivering SSN‑AUKUS requires steady government funding over many years and across multiple parliaments. This must be a cross-government priority, with an annual review comparing planned and actual investment.

As MP for Barrow and Furness, I see the transformative power of the Aukus partnership every day. We are targeting £1 billion in investment for the rapid overhaul of local infrastructure. This means building thousands of high-quality new homes, improving educational outcomes, regenerating the town centre, and upgrading healthcare and transport. This is not just about building submarines; it is about permanently rebuilding a community.

But we must also accelerate the integration of our supply chain. By proactively integrating SMEs directly into advanced capability projects, we can turn agile tech firms into industrial heavyweights, but only if the government moves faster to remove the bureaucratic hurdles blocking their entry.

Aukus is a phenomenal success story of cutting-edge innovation and local economic regeneration. However, to sustain and accelerate a multi-decade programme of this magnitude, we must ensure it enjoys unshakeable public support.

In recent years, there have been repeated calls for a more open and honest conversation with the public on defence and security issues. This is where parliamentarians can – and must – do more. As part of a wider conversation about the role of defence in society, Aukus provides a strong opportunity to show the real, practical benefits that a successful defence industry can bring to local economies across the UK.

MPs have an important role to play in delivering this message locally, but to do so the MOD should take a more open and proactive approach to working with MPs and engaging with the media to support this shared aim.

The Defence Committee inquiry has highlighted how important the Aukus partnership is, while also making clear the scale and complexity of what is needed to deliver it. For Britain, Aukus brings significant challenges as well as major opportunities. As parliamentarians, we must play our part to build public understanding and secure the sustained political commitment and investment needed for this long-term national endeavour.

Michelle Scrogham is Labour MP for Barrow and Furness and chair of the Aukus APPG

(Pixel-shot/Alamy)

4 min read38 min

It is a day to celebrate the resilience of the community and to raise awareness of a condition that is truly life-altering, occurring every two hours in this country. But this year, the day carries a heavy weight of urgency. As the Officers of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Spinal Cord Injury, we are using this occasion to issue a stark warning, the very foundation of specialist care in England is under threat from a proposed administrative shift that risks dismantling decades of clinical excellence.

Last year, our APPG published a landmark report, From Fragmented to Coordinated: Building a National Spinal Cord Injury Strategy. Our inquiry heard from hundreds of patients, clinicians, and charities who described a system that has tragically “vacated” its position as a world leader. We found that SCI care in the UK is currently a “postcode lottery”, defined by complexity, inconsistency, and dangerous delays.

The findings were sobering. Despite the tireless work of healthcare professionals, only one in five patients referred to a specialist SCI centre are actually admitted for rehabilitation. Many are “lost” in the system, repatriated to local hospitals that lack the specialist knowledge to manage life-threatening complications like Autonomic Dysreflexia. We found that 20% of patients are being discharged into care homes, not because they need that level of clinical care, but because they are effectively homeless due to a lack of accessible housing.

Our report was clear, to fix this we need less fragmentation, not more. We called for a National Strategy to stabilise the system and embed national standards.

Instead of the national coordination we recommended, NHS England has announced plans to transfer the commissioning of adult and paediatric SCI services away from national oversight. By April 2027, responsibility for planning and funding these highly specialised services is set to be handed to 36 individual Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).

Under this new model, funding will be allocated to regional offices, known as Offices for Pan-ICB Commissioning (OPICs), on a “weighted capitation” basis. In plain terms, this means funding will be distributed based on local population size rather than the specific, complex needs of a rare patient group.

The issues this decision will cause are profound. SCI is a low-volume, high-complexity condition. It requires a “critical mass” of expert knowledge that local boards simply do not possess. By splitting commissioning among multiple ICBs, we risk deepening the very inequalities our report sought to end.

The threat to our Specialist Spinal Cord Injury Centres is particularly acute. If their funding becomes dependent on dozens of separate local negotiations, these centres face financial uncertainty, workforce depletion, and the very real risk of closure.

When specialised services are forced to compete for resources against local priorities like GP access or A&E wait times, rare conditions almost always lose out. The result will be a fragmented pathway where the quality of your life-long care depends entirely on your postcode.

We want to be clear, everyone is against this decision. In a recent meeting facilitated by Spinal Injuries Association (SIA), clinical, senior leaders from every SCI centre in the country expressed “serious concern” and frustration that they were not even consulted on these plans. Charities SIA, Aspire, and Back Up have joined clinicians in an open letter to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, urging him to intervene.

This is not a partisan issue, it is a clinical and moral one. As a cross-party group of MPs, we have already met with Ministers and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to demand that SCI services remain nationally commissioned. We are calling for the 2022 SCI Rehabilitation Standards to be made mandatory, ensuring a consistent framework of care across the country, regardless of any administrative changes.

The UK pioneered the global gold standard for spinal cord injury care. We cannot allow that legacy to be traded for administrative convenience. People living with SCI do not need multiple different local plans, they need one national vision that connects the parts and ensures no one falls through the cracks.

We need closer, better-coordinated services that are led by national expertise. We urge the government and NHS England to listen to the experts, the charities, and most importantly, the patients. Specialist care must stay national. Anything less is a betrayal of the 105,000 people who rely on these services for their dignity, their independence, and their lives.

Andy McDonald MP is chair of the APPG on Spinal Cord Injury. John Glen MP, Helen Morgan MP and Gill Furniss MP are officers of the APPG.