News and Opinion

TIM WALKER reviews a performance of the Three Sisters at the National Theatre. Quite possibly in response to the vacuity of the times in which we live, the National Theatre seems to have adopted a policy of staging very long, cerebral and earnest productions. Inua Ellams’ adaptation of Chekov’s Three Sisters – running to three […]

Downing Street has dismissed claims that Dominic Cummings will be hiring civil servants without following Whitehall’s usual recruitment process. Boris Johnson’s chief adviser created headlines when he published a blog calling for “weirdos” and “misfits” to apply for Downing Street jobs. In his 2,900 worded blog post he called for people with “odd skills” to […]

Downing Street has hinted the UK could hold post-Brexit trade talks with the EU in parallel with the US. In a move which could ‘play off’ the EU against the US, the prime minister’s official spokesman said the UK would be “free to hold trade discussions with countries across the world” after it has left […]

After a decade of proliferation, memes have become an unstoppable cultural force. As they spill over into politics, ELLE HUNT asks how powerful they have really become. Jacob Rees-Mogg became an internet meme last year. Photograph: Twitter. – Credit: Archant In December 2013, Drew Scanlon had been shooting an episode of Unprofessional Fridays, a weekly […]

Labour must ‘win or die’ claimed Angela Rayner as she proposed a duo ticket of herself and Rebecca Long Bailey to lead the party. Rayner said Labour faced “the fight of our lives” over the next five years after the heavy defeat in the general election saw parts of its former heartlands turn to the […]

Readers argue that there needs to be political reform to bring about a fairer society. There is really no point in talking about regrouping, rebuilding, or mending our broken politics and country until we get rid of one of the main causes of it: the first past the post system. It effectively amplifies the front-running […]

Former deputy leader of Labour Tom Watson has said he fears Rebecca Long-Bailey could maintain the course which led to two election defeats for the party if she is elected leader. Watson, who stood down as an MP at the general election, claimed the shadow business secretary is the “continuity candidate” following the agenda set […]

Labour leadership candidate Jess Phillips is the one to keep Boris Johnson ‘lying awake at night’ according to one MP. According to polling Phillips is currently third favourite to become the next Labour leader – but has an uphill struggle against Sir Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long Bailey. But one Labour MP said that she […]

The Liberal Democrats are to try to force a public inquiry into Brexit when MPs return to the House of Commons. Acting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said that there needed to be an investigation into the EU referendum and the Brexit result. His party will table an amendment to the prime minister’s Withdrawal […]

Nigel Farage has called for Sadiq Khan and the Greater London Authority to approve his Brexit celebration in Parliament Square – insisting it won’t be political. It was revealed last week that Farage and Brexit Party colleague Richard Tice had proposed the event for January 31st. It will involve comedians, bands and fireworks, and the […]

Labour could campaign for the UK to rejoin the European Union at the next general election if Jess Phillips wins the leadership contest. The UK might be set to leave the European Union at the end of the month, but one of the leadership contenders for the Labour Party is looking to the future. Phillips, […]

The Labour Party ‘should have taken a strong position’ on Brexit, the shadow Brexit secretary and leadership contender Keir Starmer has claimed. Starmer said that people wanted “clarity” on the issue, which the Labour Party did not provide, and that not enough was done by the party to “knock down” the Tories’ Get Brexit Done […]

The people of Liverpool have taken an unusual step to protest Boris Johnson and his Tory Brexiteer government – they organised a rave in the city centre to show their unhappiness. Anti-Tory activists took over the shopping streets of the city brandishing placards which included the messages “Rave for Change”, “Make Tories Afraid Again”, and […]

Emily Thornberry has accused the PM of ‘sunning himself drinking vodka martinis somewhere else and not paying attention’ to the crisis in the Middle East as it emerged he is still not back at work. Labour’s shadow foreign secretary accused the government of doing “too little, too late” in comments on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on […]

Two British-Iranian dual citizens in jail in Iran are concerned about their fate after US killed the contry’s General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad’s airport on Thursday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori are serving five and 10 year sentences respectively in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on charges of spying. Richard Ratcliffe spoke […]

Remainer actor Rupert Everett says his mum is a Brexiteer – and living with her causes ‘friction’ at home. The Golden Globe-nominated actor recently moved in with his 85-year-old mother in the UK, living with his partner and dog Pluto. While he said his mother was “set in her ways”, the set up was still […]

The politics of diplomacy have changed, but have the fundamentals? John Kampfner looks at how Britain’s relationship with Europe will develop. A golden rule of diplomacy is you don’t choose who you deal with. For almost all European leaders, Boris Johnson would be just about the last person they would want to face across the […]

Vocal Remain supporter Sir Keir Starmer will launch his Labour leadership bid in Brexit-backing Stevenage as he calls on the party to listen to voters to win back trust. The shadow Brexit secretary will visit the Hertfordshire town which voted 59% for Leave on Sunday as he makes his pitch to succeed Jeremy Corbyn. He […]

Outspoken Brexiteer Nigel Farage has applied to host a party in Parliament Square that could cost in the value of £100,000 – expected to coincide with parliament voting through the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. The Telegraph reports that Richard Tice and Nigel Farage from the Brexit Party have applied to the Greater London Assembly – which […]

Remainer Labour MP David Lammy has ruled himself out of the contest to succeed Jeremy Corbyn saying his anti-Brexit stance would mean he could not bring together the party. The former minister, who has represented the London constituency of Tottenham since 2000, said he would not enter the race after “serious consideration”. His decision came […]

Readers respond to Andrew Adonis’ call for the Lib Dems to disband and to join the Labour Party. Andrew Adonis asks whether the Liberal Democrats now have a reason to exist. The answer is plain: now more than ever. It may pain him to acknowledge the fact, but the Lib Dems (and Liberal Party before […]

With Zac Goldsmith, Nicky Morgan and Iain Duncan-Smith all receiving awards in the last month one reader believes there was an oversight in the list. Despite having read every name on the New Year honours list twice, I was amazed not to see the words “Chris Grayling” amongst the luminaries. Surely, being the worst transport […]

Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt warned of the peril being faced after recent ‘extreme’ actions by both the US and Iran, which have simmered since Trump tore up a nuclear deal between the nations. “Well it’s an incredibly dangerous game of chicken that’s going on at the moment, because both sides have calculated that the […]

Prominent backbencher Lisa Nandy has joined the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader with calls to win back trust in the party’s former heartlands. Wigan MP Nandy, a former shadow cabinet minister, said on Friday that the successor must be someone with “skin in the game” and called for the rejection of “the […]

On a trip to the UK, French writer Marion Van Renterghem detects unwelcome changes in the country since Boris Johnson’s election victory. I am a bloody foreigner, so I am. Dogs are unaware they are dogs. They sit on the sofa, take their place in family discussions, play with you as part of their duty, […]

Known as Red Nev in his footballing days, Gary Neville is now showing his political colours in his business and broadcasting careers. JAMES BROWN reports. Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher (left) and Gary Neville (centre) alongside presenter Kelly Cates. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA. – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images One of the unanticipated aspects of last month’s […]

Under Vladimir Putin, Russia’s greatest exports are corruption and thuggery. PAUL KNOTT reports on the regime’s destabilising designs around the globe for the year ahead. Imagine (with apologies to John Lennon) if Russia had continued down a democratic path based on the rule of law over the past two decades. It isn’t hard to do […]

BONNIE GREER says centrists can be radical too – and points to Symone Sanders as an example of someone who is just that. I was recently called a “centrist” by a Millennial friend of mine. I can only assume by his tone of voice and facial expression that being called this is A Bad Thing. […]