Metro

‘How did you get into this?’ That’s the question I was asked most often during my time working in strip clubs. Other popular queries included: ‘How does your boyfriend/mother feel about you being a stripper?’, ‘Do you do extras?’, and ‘How do you cope in those heels all night?’ The problem with being asked how I got into stripping was the implication there was something wrong with my career choice – I resented being asked. Usually I would change the subject or, when pushed, tell them how naughtiness was innate in me, that the word ‘whore’ ran right through my spine, like Blackpool through a stick of rock. But my job as a stripper began the way most jobs did in 1995: I answered a newspaper advertisement. It said: ‘Dancers wanted. You will earn up to £600 a night. No experience necessary.’

One in five school teachers are still uncomfortable talking about LGBT+ topics with pupils, a new poll has revealed. Independent research by Just Like Us, the LGBT+ charity for young people, found that only a third of teachers are ‘completely comfortable’ talking in the classroom about things related to being lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Over 6,000 primary and secondary teachers were surveyed, and 3% of them even said they were ‘completely uncomfortable’ discussing these with pupils

Dozens of people were removed from a deportation flight to Jamaica – with a last-minute legal challenge saving one detainee who has lived in the UK since he was a child. The charter plane left Birmingham Airport at 1am with just four detainees on board. Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed 33 people were removed from the flight list due to ‘last-minute claims’, 13 of which were only made in the final 24 hours. Just hours before, Duncan Lewis Public Law confirmed on Twitter that a judge had ha

At least 10 people have been taken off a deportation flight to Jamaica as Covid-19 is ripping through the immigration removal centre they are being kept in, according to a campaigner group. Detainees in Charlie and Induction Wing at Colnbrook, near Heathrow Airport, faced being forced onto a charter plane scheduled for tomorrow. Campaigners claim their tickets have now been cancelled and the men – some of whom have been diagnosed with HIV, asthma and high blood pressure – now face the threat o

Campaigners and MPs are demanding a deportation flight filled with people who are ‘thoroughly British’ and have ‘extensive family’ in the UK to be halted. Last week, Metro.co.uk reported that Home Secretary Priti Patel is preparing a another attempt to deport people to Jamaica on a charter plane scheduled to take off on November 10. This will be the fourth mass deportation to the Caribbean since the Windrush scandal broke in 2018. Since then, the Home Office has made a point that the charter

I remember sitting in my school grounds on a rainy February day in 2009. I was on a bench not far from the science block and getting saturated by the rain. I’d been excluded from my friendship group over some silly squabble and I felt completely, utterly alone.

Even as modern brides and grooms choose to subvert outdated wedding traditions, one custom that prevails is walking down the aisle in a one-of-a-kind outfit. But investing so much money, time and fabric into a wedding dress that you only wear once makes little sense. As we become increasingly aware of the fashion industry’s staggering contribution to global warming, wearing an outfit on just one occasion is the ultimate fashion faux pas: 2021’s version of pairing socks with sandals. Even cele

Dozens of reports of young women being spiked with needles in crowded clubs have sparked a wave of misinformation on social media. The first accounts of ‘needle spiking’ in the UK were made in early October and have since given confidence to more victims to come forward to say they’d been drugged. But now, false claims have been made on social media that a woman has died in hospital after an incident of ‘needle spiking’ at a nightclub in Hove last weekend. Sussex Police have had to dispel a t

Metropolitan Police officers have been accused of abandoning an alleged domestic abuse victim in the flat she shares with her ‘potentially violent’ partner. The woman, in her late 50s, called the police after she was threatened by her boyfriend at an address in Stoke Newington, London, but was told by officers that ‘there is nothing we can do’, it has been claimed. A female and a male officer arrived at the property on Tuesday, October 19, just after midnight – but only made ‘the situation wor

A university has been accused of ‘worsening the lives’ of its LGBT+ students by continuing to back an academic at the centre of a row over transgender rights. Kathleen Stock, who has an OBE for her contribution to higher education, stepped down from her post as a philosophy professor at Sussex University this week following calls for her to be sacked over her stance on gender identity. Her resignation came amid protests by students at the university’s Brighton campus, which was branded as a ‘d

I discuss sex, endometriosis and the impact societal narratives regarding intimacy can have on our relationships for The Metro

More than 160,000 people have signed a petition calling for an urgent move to mandatory screenings in nightclubs after a spate of spikings nationwide. Hannah Thomson, who lives in Glasgow, saw women sharing their experience of being injected with an unknown drug on nights out on the social media page Edinburgh Anonymous. Terrified, the 24-year-old began researching what responsibility nightclubs and bars have for revellers and discovered that most do not even do checks on the doors. She told

There are renewed safety fears for women following multiple reports they are being spiked by needles in nightclubs across the UK. So far, police forces in Nottingham, Leeds and Edinburgh are investigating more than a dozen ‘terrifying’ incidents of women being injected with a drug. Zara Owen, a first-year student in Nottingham, was one of the first victims to come forward with her story. In a post on Facebook nearly a week ago, she shared about blacking out shortly after arriving at a nightcl

Black shoppers lining up to buy the most sought-after trainers at JD Sports say they were refused service after being racially stereotyped as ‘resellers’. The sneaker giant unveiled its huge new store at Westfield Stratford City earlier this month, with hundreds of eager customers queueing up for hours before the grand opening in east London. But some people claim they left empty-handed after staff allegedly turned them away over the colour of their skin – which JD Sports rejected as ‘entirely

As the Paris Agreement’s 2030 deadline for reversing the damage done to the planet looms, what can be done to save the Earth in less than a decade?

Protesters emptied a barrel of rotten apples outside Scotland Yard to draw attention to the epidemic of violence against women and girls in the UK. Their display included a note to the home secretary, which read, ‘Dear Home Secretary, It’s not one bad apple. It’s the whole f***ing orchard. Sincerely, women.’ Activists from the Women’s Equality Party (WEP) used the apples to form the words of the slogan ‘enough is enough’ – now a rallying cry against gender-based violence. They wanted to demon

You will have heard of Clarks: they are one of the most recognisable brands on the British High Street, supplying shoes to the nation for over a century. I’ve worked at Clarks in my town, Street – the very UK town where Clarks was founded – for 16 years. I know colleagues that have been here even longer – some for 20 and even 30 years. There once was a time where Clarks built schools, libraries and theatres for their workers and their families in Somerset. Cyrus and James Clark, who opened the

Dramatic CCTV footage shows several cops jumping out from an unmarked van and pointing their guns in the face of a terrified black man who was driving home from McDonald’s. Callum Lother, who was only wearing pyjamas and a nightgown, said four officers smashed the windows on the driver’s side and the passenger’s side, pulled him out and slammed him on the ground. The 23-year-old claimed the West Midlands Police squad then dragged him through the broken glass, causing a deep wound on his hand a

A teaching assistant in south London has decided to sleep with a hammer next to her bed after a ‘creepy’ Uber driver showed up to her house twice to look for her. When Amélé Sossavi ordered an Uber to transport the last few suitcases from her old home to the new one on September 20, she did not imagine that only days later she would need police protection. The 25-year-old says what started as polite small talk with her driver about his life quickly turned uncomfortable. He asked her if she ha

The far-right group Britain First has been registered as a political party by the Electoral Commission. Leader Paul Golding, who was convicted under the Terrorism Act in May last year, said he was ‘ecstatic’ about finally ‘defeating’ the body. The party lost its status in 2017 after it failed to renew its registration on time. Since then, Britain First has had its application turned down eight times. Mr Golding thanked supporters for donating thousands of pounds, saying: ‘We have fought long

We all know sustainability is an area that the fashion industry is falling short on. But last night at London Fashion Week, one designer put recycling and reuse in the spotlight – demonstrating just how powerful second-hand clothing can be. Rising star Harris Reed showed his commitment to the planet by creating catwalk looks made from Oxfam donations. Models walked the runway at the Serpentine Pavilion showing off 10 different outfits – made up of items sourced from Oxfam.

Are your tampons adding to the climate crisis? Each year 1.5-2 billion menstrual items are flushed down Britain’s toilets, while another 200,000 tonnes end up in landfill as plastic waste.

A schoolboy was allegedly choked by a Met Police officer during a stop-and-search in south London. Benjamin Olajive, 13, was on his way to McDonald’s last Tuesday when he was swarmed by police responding to a report of a black person with a knife – and he was identified as the suspect on CCTV. Shocking videos sent to Metro.co.uk show five officers putting Benjamin, who has ADHD and PTSD, in handcuffs while they search his clothes and backpack for a weapon. Benjamin can be heard crying ‘my han

What it feels like… to live with a brain tumour for 15 years What it feels like… to live with a brain tumour for 15 years It felt like I was watching a Netflix show, and the leading character had just received devastating news. It was the early hours of 4 December 2018. I was aged 33 and had just been diagnosed with a 5cm tumour in my cerebellum. When a patient is diagnosed with a brain tumour, the tumour is rated on a grade scale from one to four, with one being the least severe and four be

Police officers are being investigated after a badly injured man’s family accused them of excessive force. The man, identified only as Char, was pictured lying on a hospital bed after allegedly suffering injuries sustained while being arrested for having a faulty brake light in Bromley, south east London. A woman claiming to be his daughter wrote on Instagram that he had suffered a broken nose, cheek bone and eye socket, and deep cuts to his head. His daughter said: ‘This incident escalated b