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The asylum loophole Burnham can close, by ex-Home Secretary

Straw, who served as Tony Blair’s foreign and home secretary, has endorsed a report by the ThinkLabour think-tank which says Andy Burnham must rein in judicial review and seize back powers from the courts and quangos to…

I grew up by the ‘LA of Lancashire’. It’s a wonder more people don’t visit

Ghosts always come to mind here. I was born and raised five miles north of the Cheshire market town and, for all the regeneration, memories flicker around its pubs, on the high street, at Bank Quay station. Warrington…

I left school with no qualifications. Now I’m a millionaire – here’s how I did it

It’s something I think about a lot at this time of year, when thousands of young people across the country are eagerly awaiting their results and wondering what comes next. And for anyone who is feeling disappointed or…

The hidden dark side of Agatha Christie

With the dandified Poirot or the seemingly innocent Miss Marple at the helm, her stories have a veneer of bucolic English life, temporarily derailed by nefarious deeds. But Christie was never cosy. Her novels contain…

Summer childcare made me resent my husband – then we changed one thing

My husband Mark wouldn’t dream of booking childcare if he was working: he’d tell me what he was doing and know I’d fit my work around his. Which, of course, I would. I watered those seeds by reminding myself of how…

I’m jealous of Aston Villa’s staggering optimism

Option two: we won a European final and things are only going to get better. Now begins a new age of Aston Villa , Unai Emery 2.0. The trophy drought has ended and left a sense of psychological freedom: everything now is…

'He secretly took intimate photos then used them to control me'

On a video call, she says, he secretly took screenshots of her naked after she had undressed for him. According to Emma, he obtained more during the relationship and threatened to share them if she did not do what he…

Harry and Meghan: the key moments, conflicts and controversies since their US move

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are expected to relocate to the UK this month. The family will reportedly live at a private, non-royal residence…

Even the mother of a new Green Party MP says the party is now full of 'less than nice people' - as new councillors threaten to quit over 'racism'

In a dramatic intervention, Liz Spencer, the mum of recently elected Green MP Hannah Spencer and herself a Green member, said of the party in its current guise: 'It's not what the Green Party used to be; nice people who…

Israel confirms soldiers fired at car in which Hind Rajab was killed and opens criminal investigation

Rajab initially survived the attack and answered a telephone call during which she pleaded for help. The call lasted hours. An ambulance sent to reach her – in a move co-ordinated with the Israeli army - was then…