News and Opinion

Wales’ elections in May could be delayed – but when they eventually happen they will help make history. The scene was set for May 6 2021 to be a historic day for democracy in Wales. It would be the first time that 16 and 17 year olds would be able to vote in an election. […]

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has not ruled out lengthening school days or shortening summer breaks to help pupils in England catch up from coronavirus disruption. Ministers have announced an extra £400 million of funding and asked secondaries to deliver some summer teaching to counteract the months of classroom closures. With all pupils in England set […]

Matt Hancock appears to have removed a picture of a friend’s pub from his wall following a court ruling on coronavirus contracts. Alex Bourne, who ran the Cock Inn near Hancock’s former constituency in Thurlow, secured a contract to provide medical equipment after contacting the health secretary over Whatsapp. It comes as the UK’s medicines regulator, […]

Ministers are being urged to accept a rebel amendment to protect leaseholders in England from the costs of carrying out emergency fire safety work on their flats. More than 30 Tory MPs have signed the amendment to the Fire Safety Bill – intended to strengthen regulation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster – […]

Independence supporters have ridiculed a flyer produced by the Scottish Tories warning an SNP majority at this year’s Holyrood elections would lead to a second referendum to separate from the United Kingdom. The leaflet, sent to household across Scotland, appears to suggest Boris Johnson would not prevent the referendum. It says: “The SNP will hold another […]

An MP was snubbed from making a virtual contribution to parliament after being judged to be dressed too casually. Conservative Jonathan Gullis had been set to address the Commons from home during a debate on support for businesses and individuals during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Stoke-on-Trent North MP was skipped on the order paper […]

When it comes to the NHS, the pandemic has changed everything. It will emerge exhausted and facing colossal demand. Yet attitudes to it have been utterly transformed. In a special report, Lawrence Dunhill considers what lies ahead for the service. The coronavirus vaccination programme offers realistic hope the NHS will soon be through the worst of this pandemic, […]

Following the announcement that the Pompidou Centre is to close from 2023 until 2027, BENJAMIN IVRY explores the history of the controversial building and its complex place at the heart of French culture and identity. Often referred to in French as Beaubourg, after the area in central Paris where it is located, the Pompidou Centre – with […]

The European parliament has been given an extension to scrutinise the Brexit deal between the UK government and EU. The UK has given the parliament until April 30 to debate the deal after MEPs called for more time. Despite coming into effect on January 1, the agreement has only been provisionally implemented, with a deadline to […]

Just over a third of the public in England think Matt Hancock should resign after a court ruled that he had “breached his legal obligation” by not publishing details of contracts surrounding personal protective equipment (PPE). New polling from Savanta ComRes – conducted on Monday – found the public were split on the issue with […]

Matt Hancock has said he has no problem breaching laws surrounding the issuing of contracts again if he were the health minister during another public health emergency. The health secretary refused to apologise after a High Court ruling found he had “breached his legal obligation” to publish details of contracts within 30 days. The breach applied to […]

The Labour Party has criticised the decision to delay enforcement action against companies that fail to report their gender pay gap by this year’s deadline. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it will not begin enforcement proceedings against companies until six months after the deadline of April 4, the Guardian newspaper reported. The […]

Jeremy Corbyn has called on Boris Johnson to sack his health secretary and replace him with someone who would “obey the law” following the minster’s run-in with the courts over the awarding of Covid contracts. The former Labour leader on Monday said that “answers are required” from the prime minister over Matt Hancock’s role in unlawfully […]

Keir Starmer is to become the first Labour leader to address the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) since Gordon Brown in 2008. Starmer will tell farmers that Labour’s history owes as much to the countryside as it does to the city as he promises to bring the party closer to rural communities. The Labour leader will […]

Boris Johnson has said spring and summer in England will usher in changes to make lives “incomparably better” as he set out a plan to fully ease the lockdown by June 21. The prime minister defended his “cautious but also irreversible” approach to relaxing restrictions with a four-step plan on Monday, arguing he will not […]

Scientists advising the government fear that a fresh wave of coronavirus cases and deaths could hit the country by July as lockdown lifts – with the most optimistic assumption leading to a further 30,000 deaths. Documents published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) show how modelling predicts a big rise in cases and deaths if restrictions lift […]

The SNP has warned Downing Street against implementing “tit-for-tat” trade barriers following reports that ministers may restrict imports on certain goods from the EU in retaliation for its ban on shellfish. The Sunday Telegraph reported No 10 was exploring ways to end a number of agreements to export mineral water and seed potatoes to the EU […]

Ireland’s premier insisted the Northern Ireland Protocol offers many benefits and opportunities for the region as he stressed the importance of its full implementation. Taoiseach Micheal Martin welcomed efforts by the UK and EU to find ways to resolve some of the trading problems created by the protocol since it came into force at the […]

Downing Street has dismissed “incorrect” claims from a right-wing think tank that Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds is helping to run the country. The Bow Group has said an inquiry should look at Symonds’ “possible influence” in government hiring and appointments. Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the group, said Symonds “currently holds no official role in […]

Labour MPs have expressed a sense of bewilderment at orders from the party’s high command to remain silent on Brexit issues. MPs are being asked not to focus on problems caused by Brexit when asking questions in parliament, dealing with the media, or posting on social media, sources in the parliamentary party have said. Senior party figures were also […]

Pro-Europeans are planning to declare themselves proudly European in the forthcoming census as the result of a new campaign. The survey, which happens every 10 years, will question all of the people and households in England and Wales about issues surrounding society. The responses stay on record for 100 years and help to paint a picture […]

Bookmakers have given their verdict on the likeliness of the UK attempting to rejoin the European Union. Betfair now believes the odds on the UK re-entering the bloc by 2026 stands at 5/1, as frustrations around the Brexit agreement grow.  By contrast, the firm believes there is a 10/1 chance of Brexit not being reversed […]

Former Tory leader William Hague has claimed “you can smell” the improvement in the government since the departure of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain. Hague said Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser and spin doctor, who left Downing Street last year, were “brilliant people” but that “maybe running governments wasn’t their greatest skill”. The Tory peer said […]

The world’s largest daffodil farm, which is based in Cornwall, is being forced to let hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of flowers rot after encountering troubles hiring staff since Brexit. Varfell Farms, at Long Rock, Penzance, produces 500 million stems a year and needs 700 workers to pick them. However, since Covid and the end of free […]

Legislation is currently making its way through the UK parliament to repeal the controversial fixed-term parliaments act, which sets the period between general elections at five years and limits the prime minister’s power to trigger an election earlier. An earlier election is possible if two thirds of MPs vote for it or if the government […]

Another layer of Brexit red tape associated with the Northern Ireland Protocol has come into effect, with health certificates on Great British sausages and mince now required. The UK government-designed export health certificates to allow such products to enter Northern Ireland are only temporary, as from July 1 they are set to be banned from […]

SOPHIA DEBOICK on the music of the Scottish city. A white teenager with a voice like a world-weary soul singer twice her age could only be a product of Glasgow. Lulu grew up in the city’s Dennistoun district amid poverty and violence, but she put Glasgow’s mark on the charts as the British pop era […]

TIM WALKER on theatre director Indhu Rubasingham, who provided him with a much-needed morale boost. It’s hard to put a value on theatre – just as it is on music, football, art or any other endeavour that’s prone to become a religion – but a value it undoubtedly has. That was brought home to me eight years […]