News and Opinion

Turkey has hit out at the European Union after Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was left without a seat at a meeting in Ankara. The meeting at the presidential palace saw European Council president Charles Michel and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan both taking seats, but the female Commission president is left standing, before […]

Brandon Lewis is flying to Belfast to hold emergency talks with the main political parties as well as faith and community leaders in an attempt to quell a spate of violence. PA reports that the Northern Ireland secretary will meet with first minister Arlene Foster, from the DUP, and deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill, from Sinn […]

Amid the furious debate over vaccine passports, we should not lose sight of the simple pleasure of being able to return to the pub. This Easter had the most beautiful soundtrack imaginable: the sound of children playing in the park. I never expected to write such an embarrassing Hallmarks card of a sentence. Until now, […]

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Boris Johnson to “step up” and convene all-party talks, as he noted Unionist concerns that the prime minister’s Brexit promises are not being kept. The Labour leader, a former human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said there is “no justification” for the rioting. But he acknowledged there […]

Son of pop royalty, Roman Kemp has turned tragedy and his own struggles into a window on mental health. There have been plenty of tough times in my life and career, but few quite as stressful – in truth, terrifying – as the fear that your own son is intent on drinking himself to an […]

The street disorder that has flared in various parts of Northern Ireland for more than a week can be attributed to a multitude of factors. At its heart is loyalist anger at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between the region and the rest of the UK. For loyalism, Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson may not campaign in Scotland ahead of next month’s Holyrood elections, it has emerged. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross admitted he was “not sure” if Johnson would travel north ahead of the May 6 poll. He said he had “previously expected” the UK party leader to come to Scotland, but said […]

Alex Salmond’s Alba Party threatens to cost the SNP its majority at Holyrood due to voters choosing it instead, a new poll suggests. The Savanta ComRes poll for The Scotsman predicts the SNP will return 64 MSPs, one short of a majority, while the Alba Party will return none, but with 3% of the list […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson has condemned violence that again broke out on the streets of Northern Ireland, after a bus was hijacked and set on fire. The bus was set alight after being pelted with petrol bombs at the junction of Lanark Way and Shankill Road in west Belfast, the PSNI said. It was one […]

JPMorgan may move all of its EU-focused business out of London and into Europe due to Brexit, the bank’s boss has said. Jamie Dimon said the move would be “many years out” but warned London needed to “adapt and reinvent itself” after Brexit. Dimon said “few winners are likely to emerge” from the UK’s decision […]

Welsh Labour would not support holding a referendum on Welsh independence unless Plaid Cymru won a majority in the Senedd, leader Mark Drakeford has said. Plaid is committed to holding a referendum by 2026 if the party forms the next government in Cardiff Bay. But Drakeford, the Welsh Labour leader and current first minister, said […]

Labour is calling for an investigation into Boris Johnson’s verbal attack on London mayor Sadiq Khan during a televised government press conference on coronavirus. The prime minister accused the Labour incumbent of “blowing” Transport for London (TfL) finances through an “irresponsible fares policy”, claims which have been rejected by Khan. The remarks were made from Downing […]

The slow comeback of normal life is wonderful, it does tend to feel as hollow as a leftover Easter egg when also coming back rapidly is tension in Belfast and Derry. “It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain,” is how this column starts every week, but how can that […]

Switzerland’s army has launched a drive to attract more female recruits by introducing standard-issue women’s underwear for the first time. At present, female soldiers are issued with the same regulation undergarments used by men. Armasuisse, the Swiss armed forces’ procurement organisation, said that “previous army equipment and uniforms were too little or not at all […]

London mayoral hopeful Laurence Fox used the launch of his manifesto to defend his right to call people “paedophiles” on Twitter, citing free speech and claiming it is just a “meaningless and baseless” insult. The former actor, who founded the Reclaim Party, is being sued by Stonewall trustee Simon Blake, Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp […]

When former Financial Times editor LIONEL BARBER was granted an audience at the Kremlin, Russia’s president proclaimed the end of the liberal idea. Was he right? The choreography for an interview with Vladimir Putin is worthy of the Bolshoi Ballet; every step rehearsed, nothing left to chance.  Our stage that night on June 26, 2019 was […]

Critics of the Northern Ireland protocol have failed to provide alternatives, the EU’s ambassador to the UK said as he slammed politicians looking to tear up the agreement. João Vale de Almeida called on unionist leaders to focus on making the protocol work rather than fighting against it, pledging Brussels’ commitment to flexibility on its […]

Downing Street has been accused of “abusing BBC neutrality” by hosting daily coronavirus briefings which attack opponents during the election period. The BBC has held urgent talks over the briefings after opposition parties including the SNP accused the prime minister of going on a “political rant” at the latest event. During Monday’s briefing, the prime minister […]

The SNP is “constructively” looking at proposals for a Covid passport scheme amid reports it could support the measures in a House of Commons vote. Some 41 Tory MPs and Labour have hardened their positions against the “Covid Status Certification” programme, warning the checks would create a “two-tier” nation. But the government’s fortunes could be turning after Ian Blackford, the SNP’s […]

A Tory peer who sparked outrage by questioning the existence of Covid-19 will keep her post as a director at the Foreign Office. Helena Morrissey’s claim the crisis caused by the pandemic was “exaggerated” and had been started by “fake videos” from the Chinese Communist Party sparked calls for her to be disciplined. Boris Johnson’s official […]

Labour has written to the International Trade Secretary with more than 230 questions about the implications of the UK joining a mammoth free trade pact that includes Australia, Canada and Japan. Shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry urged Liz Truss to reopen the public consultation on the UK joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership […]

The Stormont Assembly is set to be recalled for an emergency debate following days of violence and disorder in parts of Northern Ireland. Alliance Party leader Naomi Long had called for MLAs to debate a motion condemning the recent attacks on police in loyalist areas. The party secured the required support of 30 Assembly members […]

Northern Ireland’s First Minister has blamed “malign and criminal elements” for whipping up young people involved in recent violence and disorder. Arlene Foster called for youths to desist from violence, adding that issues should be resolved at a political level. It comes as the Stormont Assembly is set to be recalled for an emergency debate […]

The London Labour party is considering making a formal complaint to the BBC and the head of the civil service about Boris Johnson’s verbal attack on Sadiq Khan during a government press conference on coronavirus. Johnson accused Khan of “blowing” Transport for London’s (TfL) finances through an “irresponsible fares policy” after he had left them […]

Millions of voters head to the polls one month from today in the first major set of elections since the coronavirus pandemic. A huge number of contests are taking place across Great Britain on “Super Thursday” – May 6 – including some that were postponed from 2020 because of Covid-19. Voters in Scotland and Wales […]

Boris Johnson has claimed there is “no reason” to deviate from a timetable to unlock Britain, despite warnings from a Sage scientific advisory panel about a third wave of coronavirus cases. Speaking to reporters about the easing of lockdown restrictions earmarked for England in May and June, Johnson said there was no reason to deviate from his […]

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey are calling on Boris Johnson to cut taxes for small firms as he kicks off the party’s local elections campaign. Sir Ed wants the government to slash national insurance contributions for small firms to help aid the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and spark a recruitment boom. In […]

Facebook has removed a video of Donald Trump from his daughter-in-law’s page. Trump was banned from the social media platform in the wake of the riots at the US Capitol in January. An interview with the former president by Lara Trump, a new Fox News contributor, had been posted to her Facebook page, but later […]