News and Opinion

Conservative MP George Freeman is under fresh investigation for potential breaches of the Ministerial Code following a row with the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog. Last month, Freeman was found to have broken the Ministerial Code after failing to seek advice by the appointments watchdog before accepting a position with a company producing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).   […]

MITCH BENN gives a pro-European take on why he’s keeping the Union flags in his Twitter handle. Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed that I have two little flag emojis appended to my Twitter handle: the EU flag and the Union flag. I hope you’ll forgive my observation of the […]

The EU has admitted that mistakes were made in the process leading up to its recent attempt to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol – but pointed out it resolved its mistake within a matter of hours. The European Commission’s vice-president Maros Sefcovic said that the commission “deeply regrets” how it handled the […]

NATHAN O’HAGAN on a cinematic near-miss that would have resulted in one of Hollywood’s weirdest productions. At this point in 2020, it sometimes feels like every other film released over the past decade is an adaptation of a comic book superhero. The all-conquering Marvel Cinematic Universe films have so far grossed over $22 billion worldwide, […]

Liz Truss has been accused of refusing to answer questions about post-Brexit trade with Europe at the despatch box. The international trade secretary has reportedly “transferred” all questions about the topic at a forthcoming session of the Commons to other departments, despite the fact it is her job as minister to answer enquiries on trading […]

A former Danish minister has given her support to an independent Scotland rejoining the EU. Lykke Friis, climate, energy, and gender equality minister between 2009 and 2011 and now head of thinktank EUROPA, also advised Scotland to formulate strong alliances with other northern European countries, including Scandinavian and Baltic countries. She suggested Scotland join the […]

A High Court judge is considering whether a government decision to award a market research contract to a company whose bosses were friends of Dominic Cummings was unlawful. Campaigners took legal action against the Cabinet Office over the decision to pay more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money to research firm Public First, following the start […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson is preparing to ditch the government’s “stay at home” messaging as reports suggest he will relax England’s lockdown restrictions next month. Officials are looking to drop the “stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” messaging as the country moves away from lockdown restrictions. Despite telling the public to take reports […]

Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart and Dame Julie Walters have joined some of the biggest names in British theatre to urge Boris Johnson to change post-Brexit visa rules to allow more flexible travel for artists. In a letter from the Equity union, the new rules are described as a “towering hurdle” for the industry. […]

The Chinese state has had an overbearing, stultifying effect on the country’s musical expression. Yet there have been acts who have pushed back. SOPHIA DEBOICK reports. Confucius said “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without”, and as Chinese New Year is celebrated this week, the singing of songs associated with the occasion […]

WILL SELF advances a satirical suggestion to solve some of the country’s problems. In the 1990s – as I’ve often had cause to relate – a profound change occurred in British culture. Up until that point British cuisine was pretty dreadful: over-cooked, urine-smelling veg; overcooked, leathery meat, together with piss-poor trimmings – that was our […]

Britain’s chief mouser is celebrating 10 years prowling the corridors of political power at Number 10 Downing Street. This week marks 10 years since Larry the cat left Battersea rescue centre for a new home with the prime minister. He was the first cat to hold the rat-catching portfolio since stalwart ratter Humphrey was retired […]

Lionel Barber, former editor of the Financial Times, on the task facing Mario Draghi, the man dragged out to rescue his country. Late last autumn, Mario Draghi sat in his house in Umbria waiting, half in dread, for the inevitable call from Rome. Almost a year had passed since his departure as president of the European […]

He is best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy films, but, as CHARLIE CONNELLY reports, actor George Gaynes had an incredibly cosmopolitan childhood in Europe, and an eventful Second World War career. Celebrity came late to George Gaynes. Arguably best known for his role as the amiable simpleton Commandant Eric Lassard in the […]

Boris Johnson has claimed he has had “fantastic conversations” with new US president Joe Biden during an interview with an American TV network. In an interview with CBS, the prime minister said that UK and US thinking had been coming together on a range of issues in recent weeks. “I’m very delighted, to have a […]

Senior Conservative backbenchers have urged Boris Johnson to allow Covid-safe weddings to resume from March 8 before permitting unrestricted ceremonies from May 1. Thirteen MPs, including 1922 committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, Covid Recovery Group vice-chairman Steve Baker and ex-minister Tim Loughton, have backed a campaign seeking to pressure the Prime Minister as he considers […]

The Scottish government will publish legislation setting out the timetable and question of a potential second Scottish independence referendum within weeks, Scotland’s constitution secretary has confirmed. The draft Bill – promised in the legislative programme first minister Nicola Sturgeon set out last year – is due to be published before the Scottish parliament enters recess […]

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has urged people to wait a decade before judging whether Brexit has worked or not. Raab, appearing on The Andrew Marr Show, insisted that businesses take a “10-year view” to the troubles sparked by Brexit, before blaming the European Union for new bureaucracy. “We have always been clear that there are changes […]

Boris Johnson is facing calls from northern Tories to make good his promises at the general election. The Northern Research Group (NRG) of MPs want to see the region benefit from the prime minister’s commitment to  “level up” by unleashing a new investment boom. They say that the region needs its own “Big Bang” comparable […]

Irish politician NEALE RICHMOND on how Ireland has reacted to Brexit. After more than four years of protracted negotiations and preparations, the Brexit transition period ended and reality has begun to set in. Queues at ports and airports, customs charges and trading issues are now the norm for consumers and businesses in Ireland and Britain alike. […]

Covid has damaged populists in power. But it has also assisted those in opposition, especially in Europe where the centre is struggling to protect its population, says NICK COHEN. To say the radical right is deceitful and malevolent is to state the obvious but miss the point. I do not mean to discourage you from fighting […]

Italy’s new leader enters office with plenty of experience and esteem. But he will need even more than that to tackle the monumental task facing him, says Esmé O’Keeffe. Last Wednesday Mario Draghi became the latest Italian to receive a summons to the Quirinale and to trek up the highest hill in Rome to the palace – once home to […]

Keir Starmer is facing mounting criticism from within his own party. JAMES BALL assesses how seriously he should take it. Keir Starmer is, we’re told, a politician in crisis. Despite the devastating effect of coronavirus on the UK and on the standing of the government, the Labour Party lags behind the Conservatives in the polls, his personal […]

A Welsh Labour MP has told Keir Starmer’s critics to “come into the real world” as she lashed out at her party’s “left-wing” antics. Carolyn Harris, the Labour leader’s parliamentary private secretary (PPS), dismissed criticisms of his leadership as “nonsense” and not being based in “the real world”. Harris was joined by Welsh Labour’s deputy leader […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has said she disagrees with the act of taking a knee as a protest against racism, as she criticised Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Patel described the anti-racism protests – sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA, on May 25 last year after a white police officer held him […]

Michel Barnier has accused Downing Street of not correctly explaining the consequences of Brexit to British businesses as a row surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol continues to heat up. The EU’s former Brexit negotiator hit out at No 10, insisting scenes of empty supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland were not the result of new checks in […]

Campaigners who represent EU citizens living in the UK say they are taking stock after losing a High Court fight over the 2019 European Parliament elections. The3million, which campaigns for an estimated three million EU citizens living in the UK, complained that people were prevented from voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections because of […]

Party leader Ed Davey talks to MATT WITHERS about this burning issue, why social care is his top priority and the Lib Dems’ controversial Brexit policy. Here’s a pretty non-scientific experiment into the current state of what was until very recently the third force in British politics. Try typing “What is the point of the […]