Simon Murphy

Ukraine frontline underground theatre 'lets kids forget reality' of war horrors A captivating performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was put on in stricken Kharkiv, less than 20 miles from war-torn Ukraine’s border with Russia, despite an air alert

As Snow White glides across the stage, it could be a scene enjoyed by children in almost any theatre.
But these kids are watching ballet deep underground near Ukraine’s frontline… against the backdrop of an air raid warning.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n... (Pictures by Andy Stenning)

Inside Ukrainian frontline village where displaced family have lost everything We visited snow-covered Hnylytsia Persha, only about 20 miles from fighting, in Kharkiv oblast and spoke to family forced to flee three times since Russia’s full-scale invasion

Just miles from the frontline, a Ukrainian mum tells how she longs to go home. But Vika Ivanova’s family faces a problem… war keeps chasing them further away. Dispatch from Hnylytsia Persha, in Kharkiv Oblast: www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...

Farage's recruit Braverman bankrolled by think-tank backing Trump's ICE Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s latest high-profile recruit, Suella Braverman, had a trip paid for by The Heritage Foundation — a supporter of the controversial US immigration agency ICE

Exc: Reform defector Suella Braverman has been bankrolled by a think-tank backing the US immigration agency behind a deadly shooting. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform anti-crime London mayor wannabe campaigned with disgraced ‘cocaine’ Tory Rising star and Reform London mayor hopeful Laila Cunningham happily posed with Philip Stephenson-Oliver following our exposé of how he offered “fun flour” on a David Cameron photo

Exc: Reform’s London Mayor wannabe is accused of hypocrisy by pitching a tough stance on tackling crime — after campaigning with a disgraced Tory exposed for “cocaine” antics. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform’s London mayoral hopeful co-owns ‘unsafe squat hotel plagued by bed bugs’ Laila Cunningham – who owns a £3.9million flat – has shares in firm behind £50-a-night New Dawn Hotel, which has attracted negative online reviews, the Mirror can reveal

Exc: Reform's new London Mayor candidate co-owns an unsafe “squat hotel” plagued by mould and bed bugs, guests have claimed.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Heartbreaking calls of woman with no food and suicidal man on bridge During a visit, staff taking calls for Mind gave the Mirror a harrowing insight into the frontline of helping to tackle the country’s mental health problems

A vulnerable woman with no food in the house. A suicidal man on a bridge. And a 78-year-old lady apparently surviving without heating.
These are just some of the heartbreaking calls dealt with by workers at mental health charity Mind's call centre. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

‘I didn’t want to live but got help — now I aid other mums with mental health’ Helped by a mental health support service for mums run by the charity Mind, Bethanie Powell managed to climb out of the darkness, and is now helping others in a similar position

Day 2 of Mirror's mental health series — 'Always reach out. Never suffer alone. Because you're not alone.' Mum speaks out after surviving postnatal depression. www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/...

Stephen Fry warns lives at stake as he makes powerful ‘national emergency’ plea Writing for the Mirror, The Celebrity Traitors star – who has shared his own battle with bipolar disorder – calls for action on men's mental health

EXC: Stephen Fry today issues a powerful plea to tackle the men’s mental health “national emergency” – warning lives are at stake. The star kicks off a three-part Mirror series on mental health with a hard-hitting piece. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Mansion tax critic Nigel Farage’s Reform MPs face being hit by the property duty The Mirror can disclose how some of the Reform UK leader’s colleagues owning multi-million pound properties might have to fork out for the charge

Exc: Mansion tax critic Nigel Farage’s own wealthy Reform UK colleagues face being hit by the new duty, we can reveal. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Succession star Brian Cox’s U-turn call on adopted kids therapy fund cuts The acclaimed actor, whose sisters rallied to care for him as a child, is campaigning against cuts to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund

Exc: Succession star Brian Cox’s powerful U-turn call on adopted kids therapy fund cuts. "All children have the right to feel safe, thrive and reach their potential," the actor says. www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrit...

Peter Mandelson stripped of honorary role in the wake of Epstein controversy We can reveal how Lord Mandelson has lost his honorary role at the publicly-funded Design Museum, in London, which he used to chair, as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal rumbles on

Exc: Sacked US ambassador Peter Mandelson has been stripped of a prestigious honorary Design Museum role in the wake of controversy over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

YouTube cashes in on Joey Barton’s vile views after ‘offensive’ posts conviction We can reveal the tech giant has been running adverts on Barton’s videos – including one in which he claimed TV pundit Eni Aluko ‘shouldn’t be talking about the men’s game’

Exc: YouTube is cashing in on Joey Barton spouting vile views – after being convicted of grossly offensive posts targeting female TV pundits. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Motherland’s Anna Maxwell Martin makes U-turn plea on adoption therapy fund cuts The Line of Duty actor is backing campaign urging a reversal of ‘cruel’ government cuts to a scheme paying for therapy for adopted and kinship kids

Exc: Motherland's Anna Maxwell Martin is urging the government to reverse “cruel” cuts to a vital therapy fund for adopted children. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Moment driver parked in disabled bay caught using badge stolen from 85-year-old The incident unfolded as we joined the Blue Badge Fraud Investigation (BBFI) agency on patrol near Westfield shopping centre, west London

EXC: Moment BMW driver parked in disabled bay caught using 85-year-old's stolen blue badge. We joined the Blue Badge Fraud Investigation agency on patrol: www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

YouTube video by The Mirror Six weeks in hell: a British medic’s Gaza diary

Watch brave Jay Matthews' video diary offering a behind-the-scenes account from inside the stricken enclave: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LPL...

Brit medic's harrowing Gaza video diary – screaming kids and surgeon collapsing Operating department practitioner Jay Matthews, who spent six weeks working Gaza for charity UK-Med, kept a sobering record of events

Children with gunshot wounds. Emaciated patients. An exhausted surgeon collapsing at the operating table. British medic shares harrowing Gaza diary: www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...

Children in Gaza share dreams in heartbreaking drawings ahead of ceasefire As Israel and Hamas agree ‘first phase’ of US peace plan, the Mirror publishes poignant series of pictures drawn by kids in the war-torn enclave sharing their hopes and dreams

One has hopes of being a globe-trotting famous writer. Another wants to be a doctor. A third longs for pizza and ice cream. Children in war-torn Gaza reveal dreams in heartbreaking drawings: www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...

We stand united — tomorrow’s Sunday Mirror splash.

Terror survivors and victim families' powerful message after synagogue attack Members of Survivors Against Terror have penned a thought-provoking open letter calling for support for grief-stricken families in the wake of Thursday's synagogue attack

Exc: Terror survivors' powerful message after Manchester synagogue attack
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Rogue fake disabled badge seller caught red-handed on camera by undercover probe Posing as a buyer, a Mirror reporter secretly filmed a callous salesman flogging knock-off blue badges on Facebook for £150

EXC: Rogue fake disabled badge seller caught red-handed on camera by Mirror undercover probe. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Millionaire Reform UK donor praised far-right hero Enoch Powell's 'vision' We can reveal how businessman Gary Dutton told how he admired Enoch Powell, who predicted a race war in his infamous 'Rivers of blood' speech, 'for his vision'

Exc: A millionaire donor of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK can today be exposed as a fan of far-right hero Enoch Powell. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Powerful moment orphaned girl, 9, walks with new artificial leg in stricken Gaza Malak, who lives in a tent, suffered severe injuries and underwent an above-the-knee amputation earlier this year… but is back on her feet after charity’s help

Exc: Moving moment orphaned girl, 9, walks with new artificial leg in stricken Gaza. www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...

Castle-owning peer who got £361-a-day to attend Lords failed to pay minimum wage The 19th Earl of Devon, whose Powderham Estate in Devon has been in his family for hundreds of years, was named and shamed for not paying a worker nearly £10,000

Exc: A hereditary peer who owns a castle failed to pay an employee the minimum wage, we can reveal. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

'Con-man' Farage red-faced as previous Taliban comment contradicts migrant plan Reform UK’s mass deportation proposal involves handing cash to countries such as Afghanistan – but we can reveal Nigel Farage once hit out at idea of dealing with the Taliban

Exc: Nigel Farage branded dealing with the Taliban “a huge mistake” before his party’s unveiling of plans to pay the tyrannical regime to take back migrants.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Top Reform donor gawped at woman's 'enormous bosom' as she breastfed baby We unearthed Andrew Perloff’s remarks in reports – with the property tycoon asking our reporter: "At a business meeting, you wouldn’t pull your trousers down, would you?"

EXC: A top Reform UK donor sleazily rambled about women’s breasts – including being drawn “like magnets” to a mum’s “enormous bosom” as she fed her baby.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

British medic's heartbreaking two words to child while zipping up Gaza body bag NHS paramedic Sam Sears recently returned from a three-week stint in the stricken Gaza enclave working at a charity’s field hospitals, and now shares his harrowing tale

British medic's heartbreaking words to dead child, 9, while zipping up their body bag in Gaza. www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...

Top doctor behind bot that ‘skips’ UK driving test queue for eye-watering price The Mirror's probe comes after the practical test backlog topped 600,000 for the first time earlier this year – with the average wait time now a staggering 22 weeks

Exc: A doctor linked to a top British university can be unmasked as the boss of a controversial bot-booking driving test website.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Tories enjoy Ascot Ladies Day freebies on eve of historic assisted dying vote Kemi Badenoch’s shadow ministers Stuart Andrew, Greg Smith and Louie French were off to the races last month – on the same day Parliament sat miles away in Westminster

Exc: Kemi Badenoch’s Tory shadow ministers were off to the races enjoying Royal Ascot freebies – on the eve of an historic assisted dying vote. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Thrilled to have won the Orwell Prize for reporting homelessness among such an impressive group of finalists. Thank you to the judges, @orwellprize.bsky.social, my brilliant @mirror.co.uk colleagues & editors, charities who helped with our coverage & to those who trusted us to tell their stories.

Hidden homeless scandal as nearly double the number of women sleep rough than official stats This article by Simon Murphy, Senior News Reporter at the Mirror and has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness, was part of a special investigation on homelessness.

Nearly twice as many women are sleeping rough as official stats show.

@simon-murphy.bsky.social’s Mirror investigation into hidden homelessness is shortlisted for the 2025 Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness.

🔗 www.homelessnessimpact.org/news/simon-m...

@homelessnessimpact.bsky.social