She was the first female president of the supreme court, causing a ruckus when she ruled against Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament. Now she has written an insider’s take on the UK’s underfunded, overwhelmed justice system

When a supreme court judge is a household name, it’s either because they’re very outspoken on a hot topic, or because you’re living in choppy times, and there are so few grownups left among the legislators that the law has to put its hoof down. Brenda Hale, the right honourable Baroness Hale of Richmond (she doesn’t stand on ceremony, but she’d be annoyed if you got it wrong, preferring things to be right) emphatically doesn’t fall into the first camp, but was thrown into the spotlight in 2019. This was when she found Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament – which meant his government could evade scrutiny in the run-up to Britain’s exit from the EU – unlawful.

Now retired, she was then head of the supreme court and boy could she accessorise. She handed down that ruling wearing a spider brooch with a body as big as a plum, and one headline that week ran: “Spider woman takes down Hulk: viewers transfixed by judge’s brooch as ruling crushes PM.” Johnson, of course, was not crushed, but got his miserable deal through and survived to make a complete, self-serving hash of the next crisis. “I’m not going to make any comment about Brexit,” she says, slightly incredulous that I would ask. I can’t help it, unfortunately. It’s like a tic.

As Labour flounders and dabbles in the politics of hatred to gain a point or two, it is those far from power who will suffer most

In the days since the largest far-right rally in British history, I keep hearing the same phrase. Friends will talk about those scenes, how London was packed with more than 100,000 day-trippers chanting “send them back”. Then they’ll say: “It’s the 1970s all over again.” I can almost see their minds playing the old reels of Enoch Powell and the National Front.

Being of similar vintage, I too know about abuse in playgrounds and getting chased by skinheads and the house-warming gift of a brick through the window (which the police didn’t deem racist because the motive wasn’t sufficiently explicit – guys, next time wrap it in a memo!). We’re still some way from those days, thankfully, but one important aspect is much worse. Back then, racism was a furtive, guilty pleasure: deep down, even bigots knew their bigotry was ugly. No more.

Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist

Raquel doesn’t believe ADHD excuses Gina’s bad habits. You decide who needs to brush up on their etiquette

• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

I can hear her swishing and spitting from my room. I have a visceral reaction to it

Living with ADHD is difficult, and anyway, the kitchen is not some sacred food-only zone

Pensions triple lock should also go, says Ruth Curtice, a former civil servant who says it’s ‘nice to be allowed to say what you think’

“She clearly has to fix the problem. I think it’s one thing to come back twice. We don’t want to be here a third time.” Bluntness served Ruth Curtice well in her past life as a senior Treasury official. These days, she deploys it publicly, as chief executive of the Resolution Foundation – urging Rachel Reeves to think the unthinkable before November’s crunch budget.

In the course of half an hour’s conversation in her bright white Westminster office, Curtice says the chancellor must be ready to ditch Labour’s manifesto tax pledges, scrap the pensions triple lock, lift the two-child limit on benefits – and forget the idea that a new wealth tax is the answer to anything.

In the 1970s, the radical leftwing German terrorist organisation may have spread fear through public acts of violence – but its inner workings were characterised by vanity and incompetence

In the summer of 1970, a group of aspirant revolutionaries arrived in Jordan from West Germany. They sought military training though they had barely handled weapons before. They sought a guerrilla war in the streets of Europe, but had never done anything more than light a fire in a deserted department store. They sought the spurious glamour that spending time with a Palestinian armed group could confer. Above all, they sought a safe place where they could hide and plan.

Some of the group had flown to Beirut on a direct flight from communist-run East Berlin. The better known members – Ulrike Meinhof, a prominent leftwing journalist, and two convicted arsonists called Gudrun Ensslin and Andreas Baader – had faced a more complicated journey. First, they’d had to cross into East Germany, then they took a train to Prague, where they boarded a plane to Lebanon. From Beirut, a taxi took them east across the mountains into Syria. Finally, they drove south from Damascus into Jordan.

For 25 years, Justin and Nichola were an essential part of each other’s lives. Then, one random Wednesday, came a terrible, wrenching phone call

Many lifelong alliances begin with a period of mild intimidation, and so it was with my friendship with Nichola. We were 18, in the first year at university, and shared a few French classes. I didn’t know her name, had never heard her speak in English but, with her voluminous curls and friendly, curious stare, she stood out. I assumed she would be too cool to hang around with someone like me.

One weekend, at a student social in the grotty union bar, booze acted as an icebreaker and the guardrails dropped. Nods of recognition in the corridor became cheery hellos, then toasties in the cafe, followed by nights out and nursing hangovers in front of the TV in our dilapidated student houses.

US president will hold talks with Starmer before attending a business event and then appearing at a joint news conference with PM

President Trump is now leaving Windsor Castle. He will be flying to Chequers by helicopter.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has thanked King Charles for what he said at the state banquet last night strongly supporting the Ukrainian cause.

I extend my deepest thanks to His Majesty King Charles III @RoyalFamily for his steadfast support. Ukraine greatly values the United Kingdom’s unwavering and principled stance.

When tyranny threatens Europe once again, we must all hold firm, and Britain continues to lead in defending freedom on many fronts. Together, we have achieved a lot, and with the support of freedom-loving nations—the UK, our European partners, and the US—we continue to defend values and protect lives. We are united in our efforts to make diplomacy work and secure lasting peace for the European continent.

Our countries have the closest defence, security and intelligence relationship ever known. In two world wars, we fought together to defeat the forces of tyranny.

Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace. And our Aukus submarine partnership, with Australia, sets the benchmark for innovative and vital collaboration.

Home secretary’s remarks about ‘vexatious’ claims will have real-life impact on trafficking victims, says Eleanor Lyons

• UK politics live – latest updates

The anti-slavery commissioner has criticised the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, for accusing asylum seekers of making “vexatious last-minute claims” relating to modern slavery.

The commissioner, Eleanor Lyons, said the comments were “deeply concerning” and would have “a real-life impact” on trafficking victims.

Those in top roles are five times as likely to have been to private school than general population, study finds

The privately educated are tightening their “vice-like grip” on some of the most powerful and influential roles in British society, such as FTSE 100 chairs, newspaper columnists and BBC executives, a report has found.

Those in the most important positions are five times as likely to have attended private school than the general population, showing it is still possible to “buy advantage”, according to the Sutton Trust.

ABC says late-night show will not air for foreseeable future after Kimmel accused Republicans of ‘doing everything they can to score political points’ from Kirk’s killing

• What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?

• ‘Censoring you in real time’: suspension of Jimmy Kimmel show sparks shock and fears for free speech

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has been suspended “indefinitely” after the US government put pressure on broadcasters to crack down on the comedian, who had accused Donald Trump’s political movement of exploiting the killing of Charlie Kirk.

ABC, which Disney owns, announced on Wednesday night that it would remove Kimmel’s show from its schedule for the foreseeable future.