Laura Hanton

The results of the Irish abortion referendum on May 25th revealed that the Yes campaign, in favour of legalising abortion, had won by an unprecedented majority, securing 66.4% of the vote, with a turnout of 64.1% of the electorate. Under current law, abortion in Ireland is illegal in almost...

Ant and Dec are about as iconic a duo as Bonnie and Clyde, Batman and Robin, fish and chips. Since they were teen stars of Byker Grove, wherever Ant and his oversized forehead went, his shorter half stood religiously to his left. They are at the helm of our...

Fake news – is everyone sick to death of this term already? Probably, but the phenomenon doesn’t look set to disappear anytime soon. The largest study of its kind was conducted by a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with the results – published in the journal Science –...

At university, our peers can be our most important asset when looking after our mental health, but our friends can only help if they have the knowledge to do so. A study survey by YouGov, published on the first day of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2018, found that 1...

Apparently, the third Monday of January is the most depressing day of the year. And that’s not just because you’re in the midst of revision and you haven’t finished the essay that’s due tomorrow, or because you haven’t been paid since last year. Nope, this is science. Proper science,...

The death of the newspaper has been predicted for years, with pundits accusing the digital age of destroying the traditional – and widely beloved – way of consuming current affairs. The folding of The Independent’s print issue certainly seems to mark the beginning of the end. Or at least...

A crying baby signals the start of another day. A young woman watches the news whilst her gurgling toddler giggles at the tropical fish tank, before crawling along the hall to the nursery and playing with a jigsaw. Normality, except for one difference: just outside the window is a...