Meghan Markle condemns ‘toxicity’ of social media
Meghan Markle has decried the “toxicity” of social media during a keynote panel at the South by South West (SXSW) festival in Texas on International Women’s Day.
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, was speaking alongside broadcaster Katie Couric, The Blue Lagoon actor Brooke Shields and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen on the panel, which was moderated by journalist Errin Haines.
Deadline reports that Markle used her time to highlight the detrimental effect social media can have on women.
“Even if it’s making dollars, it doesn’t make sense,” said the Suits star.
“The toxicity that comes at you, yes, social media is an environment that has a lot of that,” she continued. “I keep my distance from it.”
Markle added that while pregnant with her children she found herself baffled by how “catty and cruel” people can be.
“But we also created these habits – what I find to be the most distributing is how much of the hate are women spewing that to other women,” she added. “I can’t make sense of that.”
“Reading something terrible about a woman, why are you sharing it with your friends?,” she asked, “That’s the piece that’s so lost right now.”
“We’ve forgotten about our humanity.”
Prior to the event, the panelists had been described as “visionary female leaders at the forefront of news, media, entertainment, and philanthropy who are breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and working toward a healthier society on and off our screens”.
Hugh Forrest, Co-President and Chief Programming Officer for the SXSW event said, “Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, Katie Couric, Brooke Shields, Nancy Wang Yuen, and Errin Haines are the perfect finishing touch to eight days of remarkable Keynote Speakers.
“We are so honoured to host this distinguished group on International Women’s Day for a significant discussion on the importance of representation in media and entertainment.”
Markle, a New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of the Archwell Foundation and Archwell Productions, took part in a similar discussion in October last year.
The former Suits star said that being a mother was “the most important thing” to her, during a panel for the first Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit, titled “Mental Wellness in a Digital Age” for World Mental Health Day.
She shares two children with her husband Prince Harry, Archie who is 4 and Lilibet who is 2.
“Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life – outside, of course, being a wife to this one,” Markle replied as she gestured to Harry.
“But I will say I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, again quite young, so this isn’t in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened at how it’s continuing to change, and this will be in front of us.”
The couple revealed they had been working with tech companies and parents who had lost children to online bullying and harassment.
“I think for us, for myself and my wife, with kids growing up in a digital age, the priority here is to again turn pain into purpose and provide as much support as well as a spotlight and a platform for these parents to come together, to heal, to grieve and to also collectively focus on solutions so that no other family anywhere has to go through what they’ve been through,” Harry shared.
Joshua faces Ngannou in heavyweight battle plus undercard results
Anthony Joshua produced one of the finest performances of his career in a devastating knockout of Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, took a step closer to a blockbuster undisputed fight against Tyson Fury with a superior performance to his rival, who was made to work by the Cameroonian on his debut last October. in October.
• Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk: Date, UK start time, undercard and how to watch fight
Joshua dropped the former UFC champion twice before a crushing third knockdown pinned Ngannou to the canvas in an emphatic stoppage.
The 34-year-old confirmed he is now in line to face the winner of Fury against Oleksandr Usyk, who beat ‘AJ’ twice previously. Follow the latest reaction and relive all the action from Knockout Chaos below:
Former Sex Pistol John Lydon blames immigration for ‘division’ in UK
John Lydon has lashed out at the apparent effects of immigration in the UK during a fiery interview in which he doubled down on his support for Brexit.
The former Sex Pistol, who is himself the son of immigrants, decried Britain’s seaside towns as “run down” and full of “prospective immigrants”, which he claimed has fueled “animosity in communities.”
Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, rose to fame with the punk band in the mid-Seventies with songs such as “God Save the Queen” and “Anarchy in the UK.”
In recent years he has adopted right-wing political stances including throwing his weight behind Brexit, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.
But his remarks sparked a backlash from migrant charities who branded him “an old punk rocker… shamefully choosing to demonise marginalised communities.”
Speaking to LBC host Andrew Marr on Thursday evening (7 March), Lydon said that much of his forthcoming tour is taking place in seaside towns, which he claimed indicates how “run down” Britain has become.
“They used to be fantastic places when I was a kid,” the 68-year-old told Marr. “Mum and dad would drag us off for what felt like hours in a traffic jam, but it was absolutely great, it was working-class people throwing sand at each other… and the environment was economically thriving, I suppose. It was vibrant.”
Now, Lydon claimed, those towns are “full” of “prospective immigrants… which are really illegals [who are] not being cared for properly, but they shouldn’t have been accepted in such vast numbers.
“It’s created a real animosity in communities,” he continued. “The division… when you import so many people with a completely different point of view, they’re not going to adapt to yours, they’re going to stay and bring the problems they’re allegedly escaping from with them.”
Marr then asked Lydon what the difference was between “Britain importing the Lydons” from Ireland and the current situation.
“The first thing my mum and dad would tell me when I was very young was, ‘You’re British now, be British, and be proud of it,’” Lydon responded.
“Most excellent advice, and I’ve followed through.”
Lydon reaffirmed his support for Brexit in spite of its impact on the economy, remarking: “I’d rather a faltering economy than a dictatorship.”
In January, a damning report by Cambridge Econometrics found that the decision to leave the EU has already cost the UK £140bn, and is predicted to leave Britain’s economy £311bn worse off by 2035.
Lydon’s remarks on LBC sparked criticism on social media, with many pointing out what they perceived as hypocrisy in Lydon’s attacks on immigration, given his own family history.
Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais told The Independent: “These are rotten comments from an old punk rocker who made his name railing against the establishment.
“Now he is shamefully choosing to demonise marginalised communities, rather than blame those in power for the decline of the UK’s economy, public services and communities.”
“Son-of-immigrants and husband-of-an-immigrant John Lydon ranting about immigrants has at least proved one thing: punk is a young man’s game,” David Williamson wrote on X/Twitter.
Lydon was married to Nora Forster, a German-born music promoter who moved to the UK in the Sixties, for 44 years.
Amra Watson commented: “John Lydon joins the right wing brigade and blames the lack of investment, sewage in rivers & seas, lack of local services, and we may add, low wages, cost of living crisis, NHS queues, child poverty, crumbling schools, corruption… on immigration.”
“John Lydon provides this year’s least punk interview,” another critic said. “Son of Irish migrants and Irish passport holder, Lydon migrated to the USA decades ago and has taken out US citizenship. And without a shred of self-awareness, he asserts that immigration is destroying Britain.”
Lydon threw his support behind Brexit after the EU referendum in 2017, during an appearance on ITV breakfast show Good Morning Britain.
“Where do I stand on Brexit?” he asked. “Well, here it goes, the working class have spoke and I’m one of them and I’m with them.”
In the same interview, Lydon said that the then-newly elected US president Donald Trump was a “complicated fellow” who had been “smeared by “the left-wing media”.
“One journalist once said to me, is he the political Sex Pistol? In a way,” he said. “What I dislike is the left-wing media in America are trying to smear the bloke as a racist and that’s completely not true.
“There are many, many problems with him as a human being but he’s not that and there just might be a chance something good will come out of that situation because he terrifies politicians.
“This is a joy to behold for me. Dare I say, [he could be] a possible friend.”
Boy, 11, stopped after driving a BMW and towing a caravan on M1
An 11-year-old boy was arrested after being stopped for driving a BMW and towing a caravan on the M1.
Officers received a report a caravan had been stolen from a local holiday park near Thirsk, and was being towed away by a black BMW at around 3.30pm on Thursday.
North Yorkshire Police tracked the car, which was using cloned registration plates and travelling south on the A1.
The vehicle was intercepted on the M1 after it left the A1, at Hook Moor Interchange near Garforth, around 45 minutes after the report was made.
But when officers stopped the vehicle, they were “not prepared” to find a schoolboy behind the wheel.
Police then searched the car and found equipment typically used by suspects to carry out thefts, and a variety of registration plates.
Officers questioned the boy, who has since been released on conditional bail to allow further enquiries to be carried out.
The caravan was returned to its rightful owner and no one was injured.
North Yorkshire Police added: “Thanks to the quick work of our skilled roads policing officers, our control room and intelligence team working in the background, the rightful owners have been updated that their caravan had been found.”
Officers advised caravan owners to take extra precautions after seeing a surge of thefts in the area.
Funeral parlours raided by police over ‘concern for care of deceased’
Police have raided funeral parlours across Yorkshire over “concerns for the care of the deceased”.
Humberside Police said on Friday that there remains a police presence at three branches of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Residents reported officers outside the company in Anlaby Road and Hessle Road, both in Hull, at about 3am on Thursday, Hull Live reported.
It came after police became aware of a report on Wednesday evening in relation to both locations as well as one more branch in Beverley.
The force said it has since carried out “numerous” enquiries and been in contact with “a number” of people as its investigation continues.
It has asked members of the public not to speculate about the enquiries.
Officers added police are working closely with coroners, Hull City Council and East Riding Council.
Detective chief superintendent Simon Gawthorpe said: “While we are in the very early stages of our investigation, I completely understand this information will be of concern to a number of families and individuals who have lost loved ones and have utilised the services of this business.”
He added: “As we continue our enquiries to understand the precise nature of what may have occurred and if any criminal offences have taken place, I would please ask people to be respectful and refrain from speculation, as at the core of this investigation will potentially be heartbroken and devastated families and loved ones and we want to provide them with the consideration and support they need and are fully entitled to.”
The truth about the £100k gender pension gap
It can be easy to bury your head in the sand when it comes to retirement, especially when it seems a long way off. But if you want to live comfortably when the time comes to stop working, planning ahead is vital. It’s even more important for women, who are on track to have significantly less money than men in later life.
Just as there’s a gender pay-gap, there’s also a discrepancy between how much income men and women have in retirement, too – and it’s even bigger. Research from Scottish Widows shows there is a massive 39% gender pension gap*. This gap grows wider over the course of an average woman’s working life – at 22, there is a £100 difference in pension savings between men and women. By 65, this has grown to a shocking £100,000 difference. For the average woman to level this out, she would have to pay an additional £96 every month over her working life.
Scottish Widows latest ‘Women and Retirement’ report shows that a third of women are not on track to achieve even a basic lifestyle in retirement, covering essential needs, with only a small amount left over for anything else. It means many women won’t have the money to live comfortably, let alone do the things they hope to in retirement, such as travel, socialise and pursue hobbies. The average woman is set to receive £12k per year of income in today’s money during retirement, after paying for any expected housing expenses, compared to £19k for the average man. This includes private pension, other long-term savings, inheritance and the state pension or pension credits.
This gender pension gap is largely driven by deep-seated structural issues. The gender pay/wage gap is a factor, as, naturally, when women earn less, they have less to save. Women are also more likely to work part-time and to take career breaks due to caring responsibilities and a lack of affordable childcare. “Childcare is a huge contributing factor for women, often resulting in them giving up work or reducing their working hours to look after their family,” says Jill Henderson, Scottish Widows’ Head of Business Development. “After women have children the gap between their pension and that of a typical man’s starts to widen. This is because women tend to take on the lion’s share of childcare and employment breaks or part time working – all of which are big drivers of the gender pension gap.” Research found 63% of mothers have either reduced the number of days they worked per week when returning from parental leave or have not yet returned, compared to just over 16% of men.
Some women bear the brunt more than others. “The inability to save has a devastating impact on women’s income and ability to thrive in later life,” says Henderson. “Those women who are in a relationship fare better, but those who are single, divorced or are single mothers are most vulnerable.”
Two-thirds of single women and 60% of divorced women aren’t on track for a minimum lifestyle in retirement, while for single mothers the figures are even starker, at 75%. Working part time, coupled with other financial pressures, makes it much more difficult for single mothers to save for retirement. To make things even more difficult, gaps in work for raising children can also affect eligibility for the state pension. It means that single mothers are almost twice as likely to live in poverty in retirement than the average UK woman.
The overall picture is worrying, but there is some room for optimism. Auto enrolment – where an employer must automatically enrol eligible employees into their pension programme – has nearly doubled the number of females saving into a workplace pension in the last decade. For most people, the state pension will not provide enough income to live comfortably in retirement, so it’s vital to invest in private pension pots.
Recent legislation is set to make two key changes to auto-enrolment; reducing the age requirement from 22 to 18, and removing the lower earnings limit (currently £6,240) which means helps people qualify for auto enrolment and get employer contributions and tax relief from the first ound they earn. “These changes will be most valuable to the young and lower paid, including those who work part-time, most of whom are women,” says Henderson.
The ideal amount to be putting away is 15% of your salary (a combination of what you and your employer pay in, plus any tax relief), but even if you can’t manage that, every little bit makes a difference, especially if you get started today. “People can only save what they can afford to, but we suggest people check in on their pension regularly especially if their situation changes,” says Henderson. Young women are now more likely to start saving earlier in life than men — and the sooner you start, the better the position you’ll be in when you retire.
When it comes to planning for retirement, knowledge is power. Scottish Widows have created a new Beat The Gap tool (www.BeatTheGap.com) to help simplify how people engage with pensions, and make it easier for women (and men) to understand how things like working pattern, and childcare can affect their pension. By inputting some simple information, including gender, age and salary, it plots the user against the UK average pension across their lifetime. You can then see where the gap is most likely to emerge and get tailored tips on how to boost your pension and close the gap.
It’s part of a range of free educational support to help women plan for their retirement.
There’s a long way to go to close the gender pension gap, with many societal changes that need to happen. Until then, being aware of the factors that can affect their pension can help empower women to take the steps they need to ensure a more comfortable retirement, while they wait for the bigger picture to shift.
Find out more about the gender pension gap, plus expert tips and free tools to help you save for your retirement at Scottishwidows.co.uk/yourfuture
*2023 RR and 2023 W&R reports (based on the National Retirement Forecast)
Goodbye, Theresa May – thank you for trying
At other times in the nation’s history, Theresa May could have been the right prime minister. She was a diligent, personally decent leader, who found herself in office, slightly to her surprise after other candidates fell at late hurdles, at a time when exceptional qualities were required.
One small measure of her propriety was that she remained in the House of Commons for five years after being prime minister, serving her constituents in Maidenhead and pursuing causes in which she believed – and she announced her intention to stand down as an MP in her local newspaper.
As she joins the growing queue for the exit, further reinforcing expectations of a change of government at the coming election, now is a good time to take stock of her contribution to national life.
Will the Tories get any post-Budget bounce in the polls?
Three new national opinion polls published on Friday include some survey work carried out after the Budget, and all three show Labour leads of more than 20 percentage points.
But even if the Budget did affect public opinion, it would be too early to say what the effect was. YouGov and Techne started their interviews on Wednesday, and so most of them would have been conducted before the Budget headlines landed. People Polling did all its interviews on Thursday, so was more likely to capture any Budget effect. But as one pollster told me the other day, “almost nothing changes public opinion”, and the news stories that so interest the Westminster bubble rarely scratch the surface of the public’s consciousness.