News and Opinion

Downing Street and the Department of Health have clashed over retaining access to the Early Warning and Response System after Brexit in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Matt Hancock’s department want the UK to retain membership of the EU pandemic warning system as part of post-Brexit negiotiations, but Downing Street have rejected the demands, […]

The government is considering delaying local, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections in May in a bid to tackle the coronavirus. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the government was considering “all options” to tackle the virus, which could include closing schools and cancelling all public events. This could stretch to the cancellation of […]

The government has been criticised after claiming that the UK economy could grow ‘at best’ by just 0.16% following a trade deal with America. A post-Brexit trade deal with the US is estimated as having the potential to grow the UK economy by 0.16%, according to the government’s negotiating objectives. The £3.4 billion yearly increase […]

The government should pause Brexit trade talks and extend the transition period to allow it to deal with the coronavirus, the Liberal Democrats have claimed. Acting party leader Ed Davey said that the government should be putting all of its focus on dealing with the outbreak, after failing to show “any leadership” on the matter. […]

Boris Johnson must not ‘cosy up’ to US president Donald Trump in post-Brexit trade talks, trade union bosses have warned. The government has set out its overall strategy for a trade deal with the United States, vowing not to cut standards or allow any privatisation of the NHS. Ministers claim a free trade agreement could […]

A senior government adviser has come under fire after having said that the UK can follow Singapore’s model, a country he regards as ‘rich, without having its own agricultural sector’. Dr Tim Leunigh’s comments regarding the food sector not being “critically important” to the UK’s economy, and agriculture and fisheries “certainly” not important, were slammed […]

Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell has spoken about Priti Patel’s chances of keeping her role as home secretary after the resignation of the most senior official in the home office. Patel was accused of ‘orchestrating a vicious campaign’ against Sir Philip Rutnam, who announced he will be suing the government for constructive dismissal. Speaking about […]

‘Brexit Johnson’ is one of the names bookmakers started taking bets on after Boris Johnson and his now fiancée Carrie Symonds announced they are expecting a baby. The baby, expected to arrive early this summer, could also be called Theresa, Winston, Jeremy or Emmeline, according to betters. According to Ladbrokes, Charlotte is the favourite so […]

France’s secretary of state for European affairs has spoken about the negotiations process between the UK and the EU as tensions seemed to arise after declarations by Boris Johnson and the French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. In her first televised interview in English, Amélie de Montchalin told Andrew Marr on BBC One that she […]

Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have announced that they are expecting a baby in the early summer and that they have got engaged. It will be at least the sixth child with three different women, and comes days after a divorced settlement was agreed with Johnson’s second wife. Johnson had his first four children with […]

WILL SELF discusses the psychological loss that high-speed travel as taken from us. Plans are – if you’ll forgive the pun – afoot to walk to Paris. A few years ago, I accidentally discovered the bizarre phenomenon I call ‘airport walks’, by walking to Heathrow, flying to JFK outside New York, and then walking from […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY explores the life of conductor André Previn. It was the best piece of timing of his entire career. For all the hundreds of occasions André Previn had stood on platforms in front of orchestras around the world, his baton beating time, leading some of the greatest musicians in the world through some of […]

The complex history of the eastern Mediterranean means there are individuals who have defied their ‘national identities’. PETER TRUDGILL reports. Many people in southeastern Europe would agree that it is correct to say that Turks are a Muslim people who speak Turkish and that Greeks are a Christian people who speak Greek. That is certainly […]

Sir Philip Rutnam, the top civil servant at the Home Office, has quit following allegations that the home secretary Priti Patel had bullied staff. Home Secretary Priti Patel delivers a speech during the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners joint summit, in London. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire – Credit: PA […]

Brexit critic Dame Emma Thompson has quit Britain for Europe after describing the country as ‘a tiny little cloud-bolted, rainy corner of sort-of Europe, a cake-filled misery-laden grey old island’. The Oscar award-winning actress has moved to Italy with her acting husband Greg Wise in the wake of Brexit. The Daily Mail reports they have […]

A poll of Labour members has found that a majority do not support Jeremy Corbyn returning to frontline politics once he has stepped down from the leadership role. A poll, conducted by Survation for LabourList, found that Keir Starmer is now favourite to win the race with 45% of the vote compared to Rebecca Long-Bailey […]

The Treasury’s commemorative 50p coins are falling out of circulation – prompting officials to mint more. Remainers had vowed to take action against the coins in protest, with some suggesting they would keep the coins away from the shops until Brexit had been reversed. Now officials have had to mint more than a million more […]

A senior Tory MP has criticised the government for a the country becoming ‘less tolerant’ – and the rise in hate crimes – and said that Boris Johnson should ‘think very carefully about what he is saying’. Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee in parliament, said that the country had become ‘less […]

TIM WALKER reviews The Upstart Crow at Gielgud Theatre, London. There’s a kind of comedy – and writer of comedies – that makes you think how funny a line is, but, for one reason or another, you don’t laugh. The Upstart Crow is such a comedy and Ben Elton is such a writer. I don’t […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson has said the coronavirus is now the government’s top priority, despite leaving the convening of the Cobra committee until after the weekend. A stock image of people wearing face masks on the Tube. Picture: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire. – Credit: PA Labour had labelled him a “part-time” PM, while former chancellor George […]

SOPHIA DEBOICK on a genre which tells the story of a city – and a nation – through the good times and the bad. “Without the streets or dusks of Buenos Aires, a tango cannot be written.” This was how Jorge Luis Borges, Buenos Aries’ – and Argentina’s – most famous poet summed up the […]

Coronavirus is a health emergency – and so much more. From travel to commerce, CHRIS NEWELL and PETER HOSKIN investigate the ripple effect on the global economy. A woman wears a protective mask as she walks by Chinese flags in a street during the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday. Picture: Kevin Frayer/ Getty […]

ANDREW ADONIS explores the false power Brexiteers have over the blue passport row. Andrew Adonis says the new blue passports will take Britain back to the past. Picture: Flickr – Credit: Archant Of all the reasons for leaving the European Union, the pursuit of blue passports is the most ludicrous. These documents, first introduced just […]

An expert has predicted that Boris Johnson’s plans for a hard Brexit would be significantly impacted if Donald Trump was ousted later this year as US president. An expert in international politics believes Trump’s Democrat rival would not agree to a free trade agreement in the same form that the existing president is advocating. Professor […]

Readers react to Priti Patel’s new points-based immigration system proposals. My Hungarian mate Ferenc sees a bright future for gangmasters under our new ugly immigration laws. So you can stay in the UK for six months but you’re not allowed to work. That’s really going to stop low-paid illegal work in the unregulated economy! Arrive […]

RICHARD LUCK on a brilliant new film which pitches three supremely talented oddballs together, with predictably unorthodox results. Julian Hilliard in Color Out of Space. Picture: Gustavo Figueiredo Photography – Credit: Archant In a Hollywood where the boardroom and the corporations hold most of the cards, there’s little room for true originality. Why bother commissioning […]

Greta Thunberg has told thousands of climate activists to be the ‘adults in the room’ because the politicians are ‘behaving like children’. The 17-year-old activist spoke at The Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate event on College Green in the city, as estimates predict around 30,000 attended in the rain to hear her speak. Greta took […]

The cost of Brexit has already been predicted to hit £200 billion this year – totalling more than the UK has paid into the EU over 47 years. Figures from a House of Commons library document puts the UK’s net contribution to the European Union and European Commission budget between 1973 and 2018 at around […]