News and Opinion

WILL SELF on the V&A’s new show: Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser The front of my face felt heavy and swollen while a screed hovered in the mid-distance. “Grab a hedgehog and aim it towards one of the hoops.” It read: “Don’t throw the hedgehog, just open your hand.” I tried doing this, but the hedgehog went high. […]

A serving government official writes anonymously about how the administration’s mounting scandals, and its response to them, is creating a crisis for Whitehall. The civil service is in deep, deep trouble. Not because the knives are now out for the tiny numbers of senior civil servants who are discovered taking second jobs. Not because prime ministerial […]

Climate change has transformed the Arctic into one of the most politically dangerous regions on the planet. Now, Vladimir Putin is ramping up the rhetoric. If the James Bond franchise is looking for a baddy for its next film, it wouldn’t need to bother auditioning Vladimir Putin. He relishes the part; he plays to the […]

Prince William’s angry condemnation of the BBC following the revelations about the way Martin Bashir secured his interview with Princess Diana has underlined just how much the future monarch has been shaped by his mother’s death There was a cold, dignified anger in Prince William’s response to the investigation into the BBC’s handling of Martin […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock committed a “minor” but undeliberate breach of the ministerial code, the prime minister’s ethics adviser has concluded. Lord Geidt, an independent adviser on ministerial standards, said that by failing to declare that a family firm he held shares in won an NHS contract there had been a “technical” breach. Hancock declared […]

The prime minister raised “significant concerns” about media freedoms and human rights with Viktor Orban, amid fierce criticism of his decision to meet the controversial Hungarian leader at No 10. Boris Johnson spoke face to face with the right-wing populist Hungarian prime minister on Friday, in a move that was lambasted by opposition figures and […]

This all-English Champions League final between Man City and Chelsea is no guarantee of success at the Euros Beware the siren song telling us England will rule the playing fields of Europe in the coming weeks.  It is true that the Premier League is where the money is, and that two English clubs contest the […]

Boris Johnson “unwisely” allowed the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat to go ahead without “more rigorous regard for how this would be funded”, his new adviser on ministerial standards has said. Lord Geidt, the new adviser on ministerial standards, released his first report on ministers’ interests on Friday, after months of delay. He found […]

At a time when dictators and aircraft are making news, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s third-favourite plane is up for auction with a starting price of €25,000 (£21,500).

Mitch Benn rounds up the worst of another week in politics, including Priti Patel, Grant Shapps and Ivanka Trump

Former MP and veteran campaigner George Galloway has announced he is running in the forthcoming Batley and Spen by-election with the explicit aim of ousting Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour Party. Galloway, who was expelled from Labour in 2003, said he is standing as a candidate for his Workers Party of Britain in […]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have held a meeting with Gordon Brown who has recently launched a renewed campaign to save the Union. William and Kate sat down for talks with the former prime minister and his wife Sarah at the Queen’s official Edinburgh residence during the final day of their royal tour of […]

Don't expect a political earthquake, but the Green Party is already re-shaping the left of British politics

It's not a case of simply wanting to gerrymander the left, says Labour historian FRANCIS BECKETT, just that the traditional arrangement no longer suits either group

Michael Gove has insisted people will “make their own judgment” on Dominic Cummings’ evidence, as he sidestepped questions over the credibility of his former aide. The Cabinet Office minister was challenged by Labour to give his personal opinion on allegations levelled against the Government by Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser. Speaking in the Commons, Labour […]

Right-wing populist Viktor Orban will visit Downing Street on Friday for talks with the prime minister. Orban’s visit could put under strain the UK’s relationship with the rest of the European Union, where he has been accused of eroding democracy, the rule of law and press freedoms. Eurosceptic Orban previously praised Johnson for delivering Brexit, […]

Philip Hammond‘s association with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may be controversial, but it’s proving to be highly remunerative for the former chancellor all the same. Mandrake hears “Spreadsheet Phil” has just pocketed £320,000 from Matrix Partners – the consultancy firm he set up after leaving the Treasury – with a further £40,000 due to […]

Voters in Batley and Spen will go to the polls on July 1, with the sister of murdered MP Jo Cox hoping to retain the seat for Labour. Kim Leadbeater has been selected as the Labour candidate for the by-election in the West Yorkshire constituency previously represented by her sister. The by-election was triggered after […]

Millionaire Brexit-backing businessman Arron Banks has claimed a six-figure inheritance tax bill on his donations to UKIP is discriminatory at the Court of Appeal. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) previously assessed Banks – one of the self-styled “Bad Boys of Brexit” – as owing just over £160,000 on almost £1 million in donations to UKIP […]

The Corporation's current woes are being exploited for political gain by the government

Residents next to a large Brexit lorry park in Ashford say it is as bright as Wembley Stadium and has ruined the dark night sky for miles around. Located next to Junction 10a of the M20, the facility operates 24/7 and the government says floodlights are required to ensure the site runs safely. But frustrated neighbours […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock will face MPs and the media to respond to claims from Dominic Cummings that he lied to colleagues and should have been fired for his disastrous performance in the coronavirus pandemic. Hancock did not comment on former No 10 aide Cummings’ explosive claims ahead of his Commons appearance and Downing Street press […]

Plans are in place for US president Joe Biden to meet with the Queen when he visits the UK for the G7 summit next month, according to reports. It had been suggested, following the monarch’s private message to Biden following his inauguration in January, that a face-to-face meeting between the heads of state could be […]

Revelations about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as recalled by aide Dominic Cummings, feature on the front of many Thursday papers. His marathon seven-hour session of evidence to MPs gave the press plenty to write about, some calling it a “rain of fire”, others a “Domshell”. They included suggestions government failings lead to […]

Yvette Cooper is one of Labour’s most effective politicians, so could she one day replace Keir Starmer?

It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain as our willingness to roll over for a trade deal with Australia confirms that the government does not give a XXXX about its own farmers. Despite complaints from that flaming galah George Eustice, trade secretary Liz ‘one stubbie short of a six-pack’ Truss […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has rejected the allegations levelled at him by Dominic Cummings. Cummings accused the health secretary of performing “disastrously” below the standards expected and the cabinet secretary – the country’s top civil servant – had recommended he be sacked. “I think the secretary of state for health should’ve been fired for at least […]

Germany fared almost as badly as the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps it’s time to come to an arrangement… Ooops, they did it again. Zero points… To us. And no, three pity points from the Austrian and Romanian juries don’t make our shame any less complete. But still, Vielen Dank, Britain, for saving us from the bottom […]