As the UK marks the tenth anniversary of the referendum on whether to leave the EU, voters in Switzerland have just rejected a similar proposal dubbed the “Swiss Brexit”.
Citizens were asked whether to cap the country’s population below 10 million by 2050, with the campaign centering heavily on immigration and the debate drawing comparisons with Britain’s Brexit-era politics.
The proposal led by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) would have forced Switzerland to abandon its free-movement agreement with the EU, had it passed.
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health
Record number of conceptions in women over 40 – what we know
Pregnant woman with big belly at window – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
The number of conceptions among women over 40 in England and Wales has reached a record high, new figures reveal.
In 2023, there were 36,085 women who fell pregnant in this age group, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the equivalent of 17.6 conceptions per 1,000 women, surpassing the previous record of 17.3 per 1,000 set in 2021.
Steady rise since 2010
The ONS figures show a steady rise
in conception rates among the over-40s, with numbers increasing by almost a third since 2010. Of the 36,085 conceptions in this age group in 2023, some 22,365 led to births, while 13,725 led to abortions.
The proportion of abortions in women over 40 has also jumped over the past decade from 28.3 per cent in 2013 to 38.0 per cent in 2023.
NEWS
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LIFESTYLE
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A closer look at abortions
Protesters take part in a rally in Tucson after Arizona’s Supreme Court revives a 1864 abortion ban (Photo: Reuters/Rebecca Noble)
- Data showed a record percentage of conceptions resulting in abortion among all ages.
- Nearly one in three conceptions in 2023 led to an abortion, up from about one in four in 2020.
OPINION
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Cost of living crisis
Charities and health leaders believe the cost of living and wider economic pressures, alongside poor access to sexual health services, were the main driver behind the abortion figures.
Covid-19-era measures that approved the use of both pills for early medical abortion at home may have also had an impact on the data.
Newsletter (£)
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LIFESTYLE
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Serena Williams should be considered tennis’ GOAT considering her path to the top (Photo: AFP)
NEWS
Everything we know about Serena Williams’ return to Wimbledon
Serena Williams is set to make her return to grand slam tennis at Wimbledon in days with a first-round match against Australia’s Maya Joint.
It comes nearly four years after the 23-time grand slam singles champion last played a singles match – which onlookers believed was her final game.
Wimbledon comeback
But having launched a comeback this month in doubles at the age of 44, it was announced last weekend that Williams had taken the final wild card into the women’s singles.
Joint, 20, lost in the first round on her Wimbledon main-draw debut last year and has won just one of her past 14 matches.
Caption: Maya Joint of Australia hits a forehand to Iga Swiatek of Poland during their quarterfinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
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Caption: (FILES) US player Serena Williams poses with the winner’s trophy, the Venus Rosewater Dish, after her women’s singles final victory over Germany’s Angelique Kerber on the thirteenth day of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 9, 2016. Serena Williams will face Australia’s Maya Joint in the 2026 Wimbledon first round as the American legend is set to return to singles action for the first time in four years. Williams retired in 2022 but the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion made a sensational comeback by playing in the Queen’s Club and Berlin Open doubles earlier in June. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE
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Over 1,000 matches later
News that Williams had re-entered the anti-doping testing pool gave fans hope that the tennis star would return to the court.
Williams is statistically the greatest tennis player of her era, having played 1,011 matches on the WTA Tour and faced opponents born in every year from 1966 to 2003 over the course of her long career.
TENNIS
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TENNIS
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Career snapshot
- Williams’ haul of 73 singles titles, including 23 Grand Slam trophies won over an 18-season period, is the Open era record.
- Williams first appeared at Wimbledon in 1998, reaching the singles third round.
- She won the title for the first time in 2002, beating older sister Venus in the final.
- Later, Williams added singles crowns in 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016 and also won six doubles titles at the grass-court major with Venus.
TENNIS
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‘Career Golden Slam’
Caption: 11 Sep 1999: A close up of Serena Williams of the USA as she poses with her trophy after the match between Martina Hingis of Switzerland in the US Open at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. Williams defeated Hingis 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire /Allsport
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- Williams is the winner of 39 major titles overall, as well as multiple Olympic medals.
- She remains the only player to achieve a ‘career Golden Slam’ in singles and doubles – meaning she won both events at all four majors as well as the Olympic Games.
Explained
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NEWS
Radio 2 DJ Trevor Nelson taking break from work over health issues
Caption: BBC Radio presenter Trevor Nelson with his Tric special award, at the Television and Radio Industries Club (Tric) awards 2025 at Grosvenor House Hotel, London. Picture date: Tuesday June 23, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire
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BBC Radio 2 presenter Trevor Nelson has announced he is taking a break from broadcasting due to health issues.
Nelson, who has been absent from air all week, said he is taking some time away after being advised to go for medical tests following a routine check-up.
What did the DJ say?
I wanted to let my followers, radio listeners and all my Soul Nation party-people know that I’m going to be taking a little break from my work commitments…I’m concentrating on getting better, being back to 100% me and to getting back behind the mic and the decks.
Trevor Nelson
DJ Spoony hosts his Good Groove show on radio 2 (Photo: James Watkins/BBC)
Heartfelt messages
Nelson, 62, has spent the last 30 years championing Black music in the UK. He has been a huge influence on R&B, soul and hip-hop broadcasting, and received swift support from music and media figures.
Musicians Stormzy and Alesha Dixon, as well as fellow BBC radio presenter Lauren Laverne, were among those sending heartfelt messages.
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 23: Trevor Nelson attends the TRIC Awards 2026 at JW Marriott Grosvenor House on June 23, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)
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Awards recognition
Earlier this week, Nelson received an award from the Television and Radio Industries Club in recognition of his broadcasting career.
It followed the judge’s special recognition award at the Arias, the industry’s yearly awards, which Nelson took home at the beginning of the year.
WELLBEING
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RADIO
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As with the Brexit vote, the results showed clear geographic divides, with urban areas tending to favour openness, while smaller towns and rural regions were more likely to back restrictions.
What was different in Switzerland?
The vote raised questions about national identity and the pressures of population growth, with SVP politician Thomas Matter arguing immigration should be “moderate and controlled”.
But Ali Bannerman, a British engineer who moved to Switzerland in 2015 who voted “no” as a newly naturalised citizen, said the campaign didn’t seem inherently hostile. “It didn’t really feel xenophobic,” Bannerman told The i Paper. “I mean, I’m sure some people did vote that way for xenophobic reasons, but the overall vibe, at least in terms of the image given over, was just, ‘It’s getting a bit much, maybe we should slow it down a bit.’”
The two countries have very different demographics. Around 19 per cent of UK residents were born abroad, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), compared to almost a third of Switzerland’s permanent residents – nearly a quarter of whom have lived in the country for at least 20 years.
Bannerman points to a contrast in the two political systems. “Brexit for a lot of people was a protest vote really, wasn’t it?” he said. “It was a way to stick it to David Cameron after years of frustration with austerity and certain regions going into decline. You don’t have that here.
In Bern, a campaign poster featuring the faces of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping reads, ‘Breaking away from Europe at a time like this? No to the SVP Chaos Initiative’ (Photo: Christian Beutler/Keystone via AP)
“Power is shared between multiple parties, so you can’t just blame everything on one politician. It is not ‘everything is Keir Starmer’s fault’ until the next person comes in. It generally creates a much more level-headed atmosphere.”
Migration pressures are higher-profile in the UK, where asylum claims reached record levels in 2024 and about 39,000 people arrived by small boats in the year to March 2026. In Switzerland, immigration is higher overall but mostly job‑driven, with around 77 per cent of migrants in work.
Patrick Leisibach, an economist and co-head of research at think-tank Avenir Suisse, notes that hitting a hard population cap could have forced the government to prioritise which workers to admit, from doctors and care staff to other skilled professionals.
How the Swiss do referendums
In Switzerland, citizens vote up to four times a year, allowing them to express discontent in stages rather than through a single protest.
The result is a political culture with fewer high-stakes moments. By spreading responsibility across a multi-party coalition system, Swiss politics avoids the personality-driven blame games that can paralyse Westminster.
The UK has only had three nationwide referendums in modern history, in 1975, 2011 and 2016. Over a similar time period, Switzerland has had more than 350. Bannerman says this consistent cycle has helped to create a “build-up” to a less explosive vote in the country.
“Our referendums are almost a bit mundane, and to a certain extent, it was just another box to tick,” he said. “You get used to seeing ‘yes/no’ placards pop up in your neighbourhood every three months. This was certainly more important than many, but it wasn’t anything compared to the bombastic showboating – and promises of the world being your oyster – of Brexit.”
Immigration remains a key issue in Switzerland alongside debates over the country’s ties with the EU. Unlike the single vote that determined Britain’s exit from the EU, Switzerland will hold further referendums in September and November.
Dependent on foreign labour
Leisibach said he would call the debate “Brexit-lite”.
“Many people in Switzerland found themselves caught in a dilemma: we need migration, but at the same time it’s too much,” he added.
In the end, 54.8 per cent of voters rejected the proposal and 45.2 per cent voted in favour.
The core of the issue lies in a tension between the country’s economic reality and growth fatigue. Switzerland remains dependent on foreign labour, which makes up a third of its workforce overall, and half in sectors such as hospitality and pharmaceuticals.
Switzerland has had 350 nationwide referendums in the same time that the UK has had three (Photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP via Getty Images)
Cloé Jans, senior project manager at gfs.bern, a leading Swiss research and consulting institute, says the campaign “gave political expression to a very real and widespread unease”. These concerns include the pace of population growth and its impact on housing, infrastructure and public services.
“Support for the initiative was not driven solely by classic anti-immigration sentiment,” she said. “For many voters, it reflected a broader sense of overload, of concerns about quality of life and whether political institutions can manage change effectively.”
Jans notes that backing for the cap was strongest among rural voters, supporters of the SVP and those with lower levels of trust in government. “When that sense of control is perceived to be weakening, economic arguments alone are often not sufficient to settle the debate,” she said.
A key part of the SVP’s strategy was framing the population cap as a “sustainability initiative”.
“From a marketing perspective, it was a very intelligent move,” Leisibach said. “You frame it as sustainability, like green parties do with the environment. It was very intelligent to move the migration topic away from the people arriving here, to some sort of an infrastructure discussion about population growth in general.”
This approach helped the campaign resonate with everyday voters. Since free movement was introduced in 2002, Switzerland’s population has risen from around 7.3 million to around 9.1 million, growing faster than many of its European neighbours.
But it ultimately wasn’t enough to push it over the line.