Whatever the reality of Britain today, our social media feeds are full of anger, violence and disorder – and that’s the reality politicians must confront

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A decade ago, just before the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s presidential victory over Hillary Clinton started the febrile era we are still stuck in, there was a common understanding of the main way social media messed with our minds – by presenting absurdly idealised versions of people’s lives, and thereby making other human beings miserable.

“We see wild parties, holidays, weddings, family outings and close-knit friendship groups,” wrote one Guardian journalist in 2015. She went on: “Apart from commemorating a deceased person’s life, you’ll be hard pushed to find a really bad moment in your feed.” Here, it seemed, was a modern iteration of the opium always purveyed by free-market capitalism, resulting in a constant stream of personal happiness and precious little recognition of life’s more difficult aspects: social strife, inequality, disagreement.

Progressives in the US and UK are asking why leftwing politicians are not connecting with ordinary people

Progressives in the UK and US are grappling with the same question. Why have rightwing populists become so much more successful at tapping into public concern? And why are so few politicians on the left connecting with ordinary people?

Barely a year after taking power in Britain, Labour’s popularity has collapsed with an unprecedented rapidity against surging support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

He’s the star and creator of the BBC hit Juice, but life has thrown him a few curveballs along the way. He opens up about his years of hard graft, his mum’s big acting break, and why things are getting weird with his therapist

I don’t know if I’ve even really celebrated it to be honest, man.” Sitting in a north London bar on a boiling hot evening, resplendent in a matching silk shirt and shorts combo, Mawaan Rizwan is contemplating his life post-Bafta. In May last year, he won best male comedy performance for Juice, his gloriously surrealist BBC series in which he stars as Jamma, a clownish manchild with a bowl cut navigating a chaotic life alongside his dysfunctional family and buttoned-up older boyfriend.

In the end, after a few sips of his negroni, Rizwan – whose CV also includes appearances on Taskmaster, Live at the Apollo and Doctor Who, plus a slew of comedy songs about racism, toxic masculinity and skiing’s lack of socioeconomic diversity – pinpoints one way his life has changed; his therapist upped his fee. Rizwan speculates that it might have happened after his viral acceptance speech, in which the surprised and elated actor recounted a prior session’s focus on the dangers of relying on external forms of validation.

After Jessica and I received expert counselling from the hit show Couples Therapy, I became public enemy number one. Here’s what didn’t make it to the screen

“You are the reason women hate men,” a woman commented on one of my Instagram posts. “You don’t deserve Jessica, you schmuck,” another said in a direct message on Facebook. “I hope you’ve gotten the help you need and set your poor wife free,” wrote a third.

I am a novelist who relishes connecting with his audience. That disposition has suffered. The reason: three months ago, the US network Showtime aired the latest season of the documentary series Couples Therapy, on which my wife Jessica and I appeared as one of the pairs.

Speaking to those who are uneasy with the proliferation of flags and those who support it is a journey of discovery

If it started anywhere it was among the suburban streets off a large roundabout in Weoley Castle, known by local people in this part of south-west Birmingham’s urban sprawl as “the square”.

From Falkirk to Folkestone, Harwich to Holyhead, fluttering off the Angel of the North and marked out on a Wiltshire white horse, the national colours of England and the United Kingdom, and Scotland and Wales to a lesser extent, have been on show across the country in recent weeks.

In his international dash for cash, Johnson appears to have repeatedly broken ethics rules as he tried to trade on relationships made in Downing Street

Boris Johnson started the day with a jog. He had the kind of schedule that would be familiar to any occupant of Downing Street. From 8.44am, he talked with his aides, then chaired cabinet, ate lunch, prepped for prime minister’s questions, took a briefing on security threats, and got ready for an interview with one of Rupert Murdoch’s reporters.

The entry for 5.48pm in the official log for Tuesday 26 April 2022 contains one of several privileged interactions that he would later seek to exploit for financial gain. Johnson was in his office, the log notes, “alone texting MBS”.

Hatton, known throughout his career as the Hitman, was one of the best known British fighters of his generation

The British former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton, 46, has been found dead at his home.

Hatton, known throughout his career as the Hitman, was one of the best-known British fighters of his generation and won several world titles.

More than 110,000 people join Tommy Robinson-organised protest featuring racist conspiracy theories and hate speech

More than 110,000 people have taken part in a far-right street protest organised by the activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, in what is thought to be the largest nationalist event in decades.

Marchers travelled to London by train and coach for a demonstration, which was billed as a “festival of free speech”, but by its conclusion had amplified racist conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim hate speech across Whitehall.

Peter Kyle says ‘singular talents’ of Mandelson were balanced against warnings over links with Jeffrey Epstein

Peter Mandelson had “singular talents” which meant his appointment as US ambassador had been seen as “worth the risks” despite warnings in the vetting process over his links with Jeffrey Epstein, the business secretary has said.

The dismissal of Mandelson as ambassador after new revelations about his close contact with the financier after he was convicted of child sex offences has caused fury in the Labour party about the slowness of Number 10’s response, as well as a major headache ahead of the US president Donald Trump’s arrival this week for a state visit.

Polish foreign minister says Vladimir Putin seeks to test west’s reactions without triggering full-scale war

Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has said last week’s Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace was an attempt by the Kremlin to test Nato’s reactions by incremental escalations without prompting a full-scale response.

Sikorski confirmed that while the drones used in the incursion were capable of carrying ammunition, those that reached Poland were not loaded with explosives. “Interestingly, they were all duds, which suggests to me that Russia tried to test us without starting a war,” Sikorski told the Guardian in Kyiv.