Thursday, October 3, 2024

Hello, and welcome to another Independent voices roundup.

This week saw a dangerous escalation in the Middle East conflict that has raged for the better part of a year, as Iran fired nearly 200 rockets at Israel following the latter's incursion into Lebanon. Israel has promised retaliation, and Keir Starmer has warned that the region is "on the brink" of all-out war.

Diplomat Alon Pinkas, who has advised two Israeli prime ministers, warns that the situation is on the verge of spiralling out of control, and that the US risks being sucked into the conflict. Meanwhile, Mark Almond asks whether the ground invasion could cause the Iranian people to finally rise up in a "Persian autumn".

In other news, Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance performed better than expected in the vice-presidential debate against Tim Walz, which caused Mary Dejevsky to ask: can he detoxify Trump's brand?

Written by Ryan Coogan

Most commented this week

In the spotlight

I never thought I'd say this – but I admire Jeremy Clarkson

By Rosamund Hall

How to ease Christmas spending stress

By Talia Loderick

I realised something shocking after taking this viral personality test

By Ryan Coogan

'Let's be normal' is now the rallying cry from a desperate Tory party

By Joe Murphy

Unleashed? No, it's more like Boris: Unashamed

By Sean O'Grady

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FEATURED OPINION: JAMES MOORE

Tipping is now legally protected – but it should be banned

Tipping can be embarrassing both for the customer and the wait staff– but if we paid servers properly, the problem would go away

Read more

Further reading

Who should be the next leader of the Tory party?

Until they have some rational vision for the future leadership is irrelevant. Who cares who leads a party that has betrayed its own voter base?

In moving further and further to the right, they drove voters away, just as Corbyn did by moving Labour further and further to the left. The only sensible move for the Tories now is to root out the right-wing extremists that have taken control of the party and move back towards the centre.

Share your opinion and read the full debate here

Should smoking be completely banned?

"We should follow Australia's lead and pick up from where Rishi Sunak left off – with an eventual all-out ban on smoking within a generation," Geoffrey Brooking writes to The Independent. Do you agree? Read the full letter here.

Last week, 50 percent of you sided with A. Wills, supporting the legalization of suicide pods and the right for individuals to choose how they end their lives. This is clearly a highly divisive and emotionally charged topic.

Send your own thoughts to letters@independent.co.uk

Cartoon of the week

Dave Brown

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