Britain, a global leader in medical innovation, has finalised a US-UK pharmaceutical trade deal – but unless patients can access new treatments quickly and fairly, those breakthroughs risk being little more than triumphs on paper, says minister Patrick Vallance

How a potential partner interacts (or doesn’t) with a cat can be a significant indicator of how they will behave in a relationships, writes Olivia Petter, whose own cat is a perfect dating barometer

Easter is still my favourite holiday, says Ava Vidal, who was brought up in a Christian household – sandwiched between two bank holidays, it’s a rare long weekend when the entire country seems in a good mood, regardless of religion

@the-independent.com View: The unwillingness of the American public to tolerate US casualties in Iran means that the president has discovered the limits of his military power

The era of big political majorities is over, but instead of clarity, the new parties offer fudge and mudge, says John Rentoul. Britain’s fractured politics is pushing us toward a future of coalitions, compromises and governments nobody voted for

As Frieda Hughes celebrates a landmark birthday, she reflects on the sheer joy that her motorcycle has brought her over the years – and wishes she’d only discovered how much fun it would be, sooner

The Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde’s warning that phones are ruining concerts has reignited a debate about how audiences behave at live shows, says James Moore – fortunately, the music industry has solutions to such unwelcome screentime

As war spreads across Lebanon, millions are being displaced. This is not a distant humanitarian crisis, says @unhcr.org goodwill ambassador Theo James – it is a warning of how fragile safety really is

The Easter bank holiday weekend is one of the biggest DIY sessions of the year – and with it come home-improvement disasters. Isn’t it time we re-evaluated the UK’s obsession and admitted it’s just not as relaxing as it’s made out to be 🔎 Read Charlotte Cripps on the joys of DIY

@theindependent.bsky.social View: America’s deadly attacks on civilian targets – which now includes Iran’s tallest bridge and public health facility – not only shows a growing disregard for human life, but also that Donald Trump’s war is being prolonged unnecessarily. It is time to end it

The BMA isn’t serious about reaching an agreement on doctors’ pay | Wes Streeting www.independent.co.uk/voices/wes-s...

"It is a kind of conversation of its own. Us doing our best, with spacesuits and vast rockets, to meet it. The moon doing its best, in its mute mystery, to give us something in return." – @griff0.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/voices/artem...

After about 15 U-turns and one double U-turn – that political curiosity was about the Waspi women, for the record – some iron seems at last to have entered the prime minister’s soul, writes Sean O'Grady www.independent.co.uk/voices/keir-...

Within a couple of hours last night, Americans were presented with two contrasting faces of their country, as was the wider world, writes Mary Dejevsky www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump...

"Should Trump’s fantasy library be built, and should I ever be able to visit the country without fear that my comments about the man won’t land me in an ICE facility, I might line it up for my next big birthday." – Kat Brown @katbrownwrites.com www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump...

Trump is getting tired of the war he started, writes Sean O'Grady, which is why he wants to wrap it up and turn his fire on the adversary he fears most: the November US midterm elections www.independent.co.uk/voices/iran-...

The PM’s deft and delicate handling of the provocations of Donald Trump has impressed some of his Labour critics, but closer to home, has he done enough to win over voters worried about their bills, asks @rentouljohn.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/voices/keir-...

Self-employed tradespeople who depend on their vehicles – not to mention the international hauliers who every day deliver food from the continent – are bleeding cash as fuel prices rise. We’ll all miss them when they’re gone, says James Moore www.independent.co.uk/voices/white...

The Independent View: Donald Trump’s declaration that his Western allies must secure the Strait of Hormuz and get oil supplies going again is a cynical exercise in face-saving – and, Mr President, we will remember www.independent.co.uk/voices/edito...

Let’s not pretend next week’s six-day strike isn’t about pay, says Dr Holly Tarn – when a newly qualified full-time doctor like me earns less than £39,000 a year, it’s never been harder to stay in the profession I love ⬇

A petty theft – of the kind that happens every day on Westminster streets – has prompted conspiracy theories. But the loss of the ex-chief of staff’s work phone has also shone a light on those who should be enabling government scrutiny, says Helen MacNamara ⬇

Issuing ‘reckless’ NHS workers with a 48-hour ultimatum is a sign the prime minister has learned to get things done by sticking up for what he believes – and it could be thanks to his run-ins with Donald Trump, says John Rentoul ⬇

"The BBC is so damned good at the pomp and pageantry that go hand in hand with big national events that it has an obligation to showcase them in the best possible way" Read Jennie Bond on why the BBC should not tamper with its 'crown jewels' ⬇

@the-independent.com View: As governments around the world implement measures to take the sting out of rising prices, Labour has merely urged the British people to ‘act as normal’. It is time to go beyond the platitudes – and abandoning a planned fuel duty hike would be a start ⬇

The 31-year age gap between the ex-Sky Sports presenter and the high-powered lawyer he left his first wife for is not the only reason for queasiness, says Victoria Richards ⬇

If his nomination for the Myanmar presidency is confirmed, General Min Aung Hlaing – who led the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government – will be a sham leader nominated by a sham parliament created out of a rigged election, says Benedict Rogers ⬇

New figures reveal police fail to solve 92% of burglaries, and mobile phone theft is treated so casually, it's essentially been decriminalised. I worry what happens if policing drifts further away from what the public expects it to deliver, says ex-chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal ⬇

Chancellor Rachel Reeves dismisses sharp rises at the petrol pumps and in our energy bills as ‘global turbulence’ – but her bad policy choices have left consumers exposed to market shock, says @kemibadenough.bsky.social in @the-independent.com ⬇

Why do manosphere influencers talk about gay men so much, asks @garynunn.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/voices/hstik...

The government is torn between wanting to preserve the car industry and the idea of the economy being boosted by billions of pounds going to consumers, says James Moore tornhttps://www.independent.co.uk/voices/car-finance-scandal-bmw-lloyds-loans-consumers-b2946141.html

Attorney general Lord Hermer explains how the European Convention on Human Rights will be made more relevant when foreign ministers meet in May www.independent.co.uk/voices/europ...

At the start of Easter week, former archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby reflects on the power - and sometimes problems - contained in the Lord's Prayer www.independent.co.uk/voices/easte...

Wes Streeting is again in the frame to be Keir Starmer's eventual successor - and he may be the best bet Labour has, says @rentouljohn.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/voices/iran-...

The left in Britain should take notice of how Europe is turning against the far right, says @benjudah.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/voices/hard-...

Lord Burnett, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, says that politicians' reactions are to blame for the prisons crisis www.independent.co.uk/voices/priso...

Tins of food, wood for fuel, and anything powered by batteries and the sun... Charlotte Cripps's current reality now she's a prepper www.independent.co.uk/voices/prepp...

Reform can't escape the fact that many who represent and support it are racist, says @avavidal.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/voices/refor...

A £21 prescription fee isn’t enough to stop us being scalped at the vets – it’s time for an ‘NHS for pets’ | Charlotte Cripps www.independent.co.uk/voices/vet-b...

Will an ex-nurse as the church’s first female Archbishop of Canterbury help its medicine go down? | Catherine Pepinster www.independent.co.uk/voices/sarah...

As a new translation tool helps users decipher corporate humblebrags, Stephen Armstrong swallows his pride and swaps ‘hello’ for ‘embracing the synergy of the moment’ ⬇

Winning the war is the wrong lens for understanding this Iranian conflict, says former Air Vice Marshall Philip Lester. What matters is what comes next for the Middle East – and who can live with it ⬇

From personalised videos to crypto ventures, the UK’s politicians are increasingly turning influence into income – and blurring the line between public service and private gain, says Cleo Watson ⬇

@theindependent.bsky.social View: As Donald Trump’s war inflicts greater pain on British household bills than we have seen in years, every lever must be pulled to give those who can least afford the hurt the greatest help ⬇

News of another antisemitic attack in London prompts renewed fears within Britain’s Jewish community – and a growing sense of isolation that can no longer be ignored, says Darren Richman ⬇

By night one way, by day another, the most powerful man in the world’s inability to stick to a decision in Iran – or indeed on anything – looks less like strategy and more like panic, says Sean OGrady ⬇

A toxic mix of soaring energy prices, mortgage rates and weak growth is about to hit Britain – and a generation already squeezed will pay the highest price, says James Moore ⬇

Successful bosses always tell us that unpopularity is simply the price of being better at business than everyone else. So if no one likes Meghan Markle, what does she care, says Victoria Richards ⬇

Editorial: The British are a resilient people, but should the government show any hint of backsliding over its promise not to enter the war against Iran, it won’t go well ⬇

The sickening reason Trump is treating a real war like a video game | Robert Fox www.independent.co.uk/voices/white...

Gardening has always been a hotbed of sex – Chelsea’s first ‘pleasure’ garden just confirms it | Rowan Pelling (@rowanpelling.bsky.social) www.independent.co.uk/voices/garde...