News and Opinion

After meeting a wandering Jewish painter, WILL SELF tries to impress with tales of Van Gogh and poet Apollinaire. It was said that on the night of Oscar Wilde’s conviction for gross indecency, 500 ‘single gentlemen’ took the Calais packet, fleeing an anticipated crackdown on homosexuals. Not to swerve into their lane, but I’ve often […]

Boris Johnson is facing a new legal action to ensure the law is not ‘grifted’ by empowering a Scottish court to request an extension to Article 50 if he refuses to do so himself. The bid has been launched by Ecotricity entrepreneur Dale Vince with Jo Maugham QC and Joanna Cherry QC MP, following suggestions […]

A Tory MP has been accused of being ‘ridiculous’ after he advocated a no-deal Brexit despite the Yellowhammer documents revealing the considerable harm it would cause. Kevin Hollinrake said that he voted Remain and would campaign to stay in the European Union if there is another vote tomorrow, but he also now supports a no-deal […]

Bonatti grew up in the Po Valley among the devastation of the Second World War, reading Jack London, and dreaming of escaping poverty for a life of adventure at sea. At the end of July a group of Italians made its way gingerly towards the unconquered summit of K2 hoping that a successful assault would […]

In the past, Estoniabs have literally sung for their freedom. And their capital city remains the crucible of this national pastime. SOPHIA DEBOICK reports. Estonia presents a forbidding face to the world. The most northerly of the Baltic states, it is a country half covered by forests, fringed with windswept islands and islets. There is […]

Fourteen-year-old WILLIAM WALE voices the fears felt by many young people and their sense of powerlessness. Like so many teenagers and young people in the United Kingdom, I have had enough. Every day we see the government making stupid, irresponsible decisions without ever thinking of the long-term consequences. They are a relentless, selfish, tyrannous and […]

A Labour MP says she would rather her party went into coalition with the Brexit Party than Lib Dems. With the numbers currently stacked against Boris Johnson, the next government could be a coalition. But rather than Labour working with the Liberal Democrats to reach a conclusion to Brexit, MP Emma Lewell-Buck said she would […]

Ahead of its 200th anniversary, MICK O’HARE re-evaluates the Rainhill Trials, the competition that kick-started the modern era. Just off St James’s Place in central London is the bar at Dukes Hotel once frequented by, among others, James Bond creator Ian Fleming. It’s celebrated for its undiluted martinis, so alcohol-laden that patrons are (most politely) […]

John McDonnell has not ruled out the suggestion that the shadow chancellor could take a different side to Jeremy Corbyn during a People’s Vote campaign. McDonnell has already declared in any People’s Vote he would campaign to Remain regardless of Labour’s official position on Brexit. But the former Eurosceptic Labour leader has not declared a […]

A puzzle setter has seemingly added a hidden layer to a national paper’s daily cryptic crossword. What expression is three words long and signals a robust dislike of the result of the EU referendum? That’s the hidden answer in today’s Guardian cryptic crossword, set by ‘Philistine’ on page 12 – you might want to look […]

Number 10’s boorish antics seem designed to push the EU into taking the decisive step, says MARY HONEYBALL. As Britain’s epic struggle continues, its maverick and increasingly dangerous prime minister threatens to disobey the law preventing a no-deal Brexit. He is in a bind and desperately needs to find a way out. But leaving the […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on the fast moving changes in parliament and Corbyn getting the better of Johnson in the Commons. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) – Credit: Getty Images It’s Monday and it’s a sign of how badly I am sleeping, and how ghastly are the times through which we are […]

Boris Johnson received a pelting on Twitter ahead of his second ‘People’s PMQs’ propaganda exercise. It's certainly going well! #peoplespmqs pic.twitter.com/HPDcPdqZLZ— Stephen Moran (@MoranStephen) September 11, 2019 Having prorogued parliament the day before, Johnson skipped the traditional prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons and opted for a second straight-to-camera exercise with hand-picked questions. […]

The EU believe Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to agree a ‘credible’ deal on Brexit and then campaign against it is ‘mad’. The Times reports that diplomats and officials in Brussels are “tearing their hair out” over the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn taking over from Boris Johnson following a general election – because of his Brexit policy. […]

Tory peer Baroness Altmann on the Flawed logic that has seen so many in her party consider no-deal an acceptable outcome. Protesters outside the Houses of Parliament, London, to demonstrate against Prime Minister Boris Johnson temporarily closing down the Commons. Picture: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire – Credit: PA The referendum result did not specify any particular […]

TIM WALKER on the ‘unforgiveable waste of the talents’ of the actors in the one hour 20 minute show at National Theatre, London. One would like to be able to say something nice about Simon Woods’ debut play Hansard, but I can’t for the life of me think of anything. It seems to me it’s […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the tory chainsaw strategy that is ripping British politics apart right under our noses. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow in the House of Commons. – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images Before we get back to the week’s turmoil, the chaotic drama of a dodgy prorogation with MPs singing the Red Flag and […]

As Boris Johnson’s chances of failing to secure a majority at the next election rise, Jo Swinson has reportedly pledged to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of government. New Lib Dem MP Luciana Berger has told the Jewish Chronicle that she has had assurances from Swinson that she “would not enter any coalition with Jeremy Corbyn […]

Cabinet ministers and pro-Brexit newspapers have been criticised for suggesting that judges are biased in relation to Brexit. Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng claimed that: “Many people are saying – I’m not saying this – but, many people… are saying that the judges are biased. “The judges are getting involved in politics. “I think that they […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from Norwich, the Norfolk city which gave the world actor and national treasure Olivia Coleman. But who’ll win all the critical plaudits like The Favourite – and who’ll be the unmitigated […]

RICHARD LUCK hails the movies of 1969, a revolutionary year when cinema was captured by the counterculture. Actor Paul Newman in a scene from the movie ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, 1969. (Photo by Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images) – Credit: Getty Images It’s always hard to pinpoint the precise moment of any cultural […]

Government departments are being ‘overly secretive’ about the £97 million it has spent on Brexit consultants, a parliament’s financial watchdog has claimed. The influential Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said departments had generally failed to meet the government’s own transparency standards in regards to the spending. The PAC reported that Whitehall had spent at least […]

He seems the quintessential American writer, but Truman Capote’s career hinged on spells he spent in Europe. RICHARD LUCK explains how the continent played a key role in shaping Capote’s life, his writing and his masterwork, In Cold Blood. Yes, Truman Garcia Capote first came to Europe in the hope of winning the affections of […]

Boris Johnson has denied lying to the Queen in order to secure the suspension of parliament. Scotland’s highest civil court ruled has that the five-week prorogation was unlawful because it was obtained for the “improper purpose of stymying parliament”. However, the prime minister insisted he had sought the suspension so that the government could set […]

The government has refused to provide Dominic Grieve with private communications between ministers and advisers over the government’s ‘unlawful’ plans to prorogue parliament. Former attorney general Dominic Grieve’s had demanded for all written and electronic contact about the temporary suspension of parliament and the Operation Yellowhammer documents since July 23 to be released. It was […]

The government has published a summary of its Operation Yellowhammer documents in the event of a no-deal Brexit following a vote from MPs demanding they are released to the public. The six-page documentation makes the claim that it is the “reasonable worst case planning assumptions” and features 20 points. There is one which is partially […]

Three years after the EU referendum Boris Johnson appears finally appears to have accepted his ‘£350 million a week’ claim about EU membership was wrong. Standing in the House of Commons, the prime minister attacked Labour for refusing to vote for a general election and instead supporting a delay to Brexit. He told MPs: “Opposition […]

A new poll has showed that more people living in Northern Ireland support Irish unification than do not. And if there were a referendum tomorrow, how would you vote? pic.twitter.com/muhAdZ5LUh— Lord Ashcroft (@LordAshcroft) September 11, 2019 The poll, published by Lord Ashcroft, found that if a border poll was held 45% would vote to stay […]