News and Opinion

On the eve of the Feast of St Valentine, where people across the European continent and beyond show their affection to their loved ones and closest friends, a giant greeting card has been sent from citizens in the UK to the European parliament in Strasbourg. The Valentine’s Day card is a project run by EU […]

PETER TRUDGILL on the correct use of ‘best’ – a grammar ‘rule’ it is safe to ignore. After a football match it is often said by those talking about the event that “the best team won” – or in the case of a losing team managed by Jose Mourinho, that the best team did not […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on Snow, Dog, Foot, a moving novel about living life alone in a complex existence high up in the Alps. Sometimes the life of a hermit can be a very appealing prospect. Not being answerable to anyone, living entirely self-sufficiently and feeling completely separated from the comings, goings and machinations of the rest […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg declared himself an expert on cartoon characters in the House of Commons after keeping his job in Boris Johnson’s cabinet. Despite some rumours the Brexiteer Tory MP could be demoted, the leader of the House of Commons returned to his post earlier. In his latest appearance before MPs he drew upon Peppa Pig […]

TIM WALKER reviews Endgame/Rough for Theatre II at The Old Vic Theatre, London. Endgame/Rough for Theatre II. Photo: contributed – Credit: Archant Stephen Unwin, in his excellent book So You Want To Be A Theatre Director?, came as close as anyone to defining what it is to give an effective performance on stage. “The good […]

Once a byword for glamour and exuberance, the Chinese city was effectively silenced for much of the 20th century. But now it is becoming a centre for music publishing and distribution, says Sophia Deboick. The financial district of Pudong in Shanghai. Photo: Getty Images – Credit: AFP via Getty Images Few places have been subject […]

Sajid Javid has quit as chancellor after Number 10 ordered him to sack his team of aides. Boris Johnson had been expected to keep Javid in post, so news of his resignation shocked Westminster, with the chancellor himself due to deliver the post-Brexit budget to oversee financial stability as the UK leaves the European Union. […]

As a new collection of films by Jacques Demy is released, JAMES OLIVER shows how his colourful and passionate works 
also reflected shades of grey. Poster for Demy’s film debut Lola 1961. Photo: IMDB – Credit: IMDB The world would surely be a better place if it was more like the movies. Things would be […]

A Labour MP has said Winston Churchill would be ‘turning in his grave’ over a minister’s latest statement on Brexit. Labour’s Geraint Davies asked Tory ministers if the UK will remain in the European Convention on Human Rights beyond the Brexit transition period. He asked solicitor general Michael Ellis for assurances on the government’s stance […]

As New Orleans gears up for Mardi Gras, RICHARD HOLLEDGE explains how it is more than just a party. Members of the Ninth Ward Marching Band march during an unofficial parade during Mardi Gras in 2006. Photo: Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images It’s party time in New Orleans. Well, it’s always party time in […]

The sacking of Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, has been branded a ‘WTF moment’ by those close to the politician. The move comes despite the former chief whip delivering a power-sharing deal in the fragile region, which saw the Northern Ireland Assembly restored after three years of deadlock. The decision came as Boris Johnson […]

Cheap, easy to use and deadly, autonomous weapons have been called the ‘Kalashnikovs of tomorrow’. FRED HARTER and GILES WHITTELL chart the drones terrifying rise. The development of drone swarms is changing the face or warfare. Photo: Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images On an overcast day last June, a group of drones took to […]

A 101-year-old Italian man who has lived in the UK since 1966 has been told that his parents must confirm his identity if he wishes to stay in the country beyond Brexit. In what is being blamed on a computer error, Giovanni Palmiero was asked to send verification from his mother and father to complete […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL meets the actor Brian Cox, to discuss Brexit, Scottish independence and swearing techniques. The actor with Alastair and Grace Campbell. Photo: Twitter – Credit: Twitter We love Brian Cox in our house. We loved him before he became a passionate supporter of the People’s Vote campaign, and loved him even more after. We […]

JASON WALSH on l’affaire Mila… how a teenage girl prompted a frenzied national debate on French prejudices. One minute she was a typical youth: 16 years old, just another teenager singing into a camera and chatting online. Now she’s known across France, loved and loathed in equal measure, facing death threats, living under police protection […]

The political crisis gripping Germany demonstrates the difficulty it has faced in dealing with the rise of the AfD party. JOHN KAMPFNER reports. After enjoying the spectacle of Britain’s Brexit morass, it’s Germany’s turn to indulge in some political chaos of its own. The resignation of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, or AKK as she has come to […]

Esther McVey, Theresa Villiers and Andrea Leadsom are some of the MPs to be unceremoniously dumped from government. Leadsom said it had been a “real privilege” to spend six years in government, adding: “I will continue from the back benches to work to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect.” Villiers said: “What the […]

Washington is considered one of the more progressive states but BONNIE GREER underlines the problems of homelessness, mental health and its opioid crisis. It is easy to believe that the movie Sleepless In Seattle might be the quintessential Washington State movie. But the 1993 romcom is not about the 42nd state of the Union. It […]

There is a strategy that could defeat Trump, says PAUL CONNEW. But is there a candidate who could do so? “So where the hell do we go from here? Unless we get our act together fast we’re gifting Trump a second term and that really will be hell.” The words of a senior Democrat strategist […]

MPs have hit out against big companies like Google and Heathrow Airport for attempting to ‘swing votes’ with packages – which includes of jam, biscuits and crisps. Caroline Lucas hit out at Google and YouTube for sending a package of “goodies” to her office. The package, which contained information about the company, was sent to […]

The prime minister shows no signs that he is up to the challenge presented by climate change, says CATHERINE ROWETT. Has Boris Johnson ever spoken an honest truth? I don’t mean an accidental one, uttered to deceive but failing in its intention, but a genuine avowal of his own honest opinion? It’s possible that one […]

The urgency of the environmental cause is not just down to damage being caused, but the creeping fatalism that could overtake it, says ZOE WILLIAMS. More optimism is needed. It’s great when everyone agrees, right? We’ve had enough of the politics of division, the zero-sum atmosphere where nobody’s happy until their opponent has been obliterated. […]

Emily Thornberry has accused her shadow cabinet colleague Rebecca Long-Bailey of silence in the calls for tougher action on anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. During a tense moment in a Labour leadership debate, the shadow foreign secretary said she and Sir Keir Starmer had called for the shadow cabinet to be more involved in tackling […]

MICHAEL WHITE discusses how populism has taken over the agenda across Europe. Sitting down to write this article I left BBC Radio 4 on in the background. Always a mistake, it’s often worse than Google or Twitter in taking over good intentions. Start the Week was marking this week’s 75th anniversary of the RAF’s brutal […]

JAMES BALL on how Dominic Cummings could bring about his own downfall. A small mind knows to stop digging if you’re stuck in a hole. A small mind knows not to open up another front if you’re already under attack from multiple sides. A small mind knows political advisors shouldn’t be seen and also shouldn’t […]

A number of Brexit-backing cabinet ministers are fearing for their jobs as cabinet awaits the ‘brutal’ process which could see a number of well-known MPs lose their jobs. In a sign that the Tories are preparing for a lengthy period in government, Johnson instead wants to give ministerial experience to a range of women who […]

Is a united Ireland on the cards in the near future? ANDREW ADONIS says politicians should put local politics first for now. Ireland has just had a watershed election and the Irish are standing back in amazement and saying “what next”? Is a united Ireland on the cards in the near future? Maybe, appears to […]

Questions have been raised about Boris Johnson’s Caribbean holiday over the Christmas break after it was revealed it was gifted by a business tycoon. The prime minister and girlfriend Carrie Symonds accepted accommodation for a private holiday in St Vincent and the Grenadines. It provided Johnson with a break after the election campaign which saw […]