Opinion

JAMES BALL on the man behind the governments war on the media… and it isn’t Dominic Cummings. It is only ten months since Boris Johnson won an election with a majority of 80 with commanding support from the majority of the UK’s newspapers. It is a mere six months since the Conservatives enjoyed a 26-point […]

TIM WALKER recalls an interview with English film and stage actor Claire Bloom who became a star after starring opposite Charlie Chaplin. Occasionally stars give performances that are so convincing it’s hard to disentangle them from the people they really are. There are few better examples of this for me than Claire Bloom’s glacially cold […]

MITCH BENN reflects on his childhood television habits as streaming giants prepare to reboot old favourites. If the current (and yes it is still current, whatever the government says) pandemic has benefitted one industry more than any other, it has to be the burgeoning TV streaming sector. I’ve heard some people opine – probably in […]

Readers have their say on what the Lib Dems must do to turn around their fortunes with the electorate. Emma Kennedy makes several good points in her recent article. Despite a disappointing seat tally the Lib Dem vote in 2019 went up by a solid 4.1% to a respectable 11.5% on an unequivocal pro-EU platform. […]

The Democrats could have made a more radical or progressive choice then Kamala Harris as their vice presidential nomination. But what she brings to the country is an opportunity, says BONNIE GREER. The genius of the slogan ‘Black Lives Matter’ is that it makes you an offer you can’t refuse. Like a benign Don Corleone, […]

The events of the summer have exposed how ill-suited the prime minister is for the task that lies ahead, says JAMES BALL. Among the flurry of questions given as part of the cognitive tests used to determine whether or not someone has dementia is one that usually should be straightforward to answer: who is the […]

BONNIE GREER on the president’s sinister strategy to hoax a nation. Wednesday was ironing day when I was growing up, and the day that my late mother watched what are now known as ‘classic’ films. I would join her, my eyes glued to the screen as I hung up or folded what she had ironed. […]

Being part of the EU is more likely to solve Brexiteer Priti Patel’s problems than being out of it. Some of your readers will remember the Small Faces’ Whatcha Gonna Do About It – if you don’t, have a listen. So Priti Patel, what are you going to do about it, ‘it’ being the ‘invasion’ […]

The Labour leader made a good start when he was in the leadership race, but the party needs to now make a bigger impact to be heard. First off, let’s be clear, as a social media manager I acknowledge that bubbles on Twitter are not reflective of the real world. It’s why trends about making […]

The unpredictably of polling ahead of elections means that experts are looking elsewhere to try to guess the outcome of this year’s US presidential election. Joe Biden, the Democratic challenger in November’s US presidential election, has finally picked his candidate for vice president: Kamala Harris. Has picking Harris, who is Black and Asian American, improved […]

With the UK in a recession and heading towards another cliff-edge the Lib Dems appear unable yet to revive itself from the 2019 election defeat. Trust in British politics has been shaken. We need a coherent opposition alliance focused on campaigning for a complete overhaul of our failing politics for a fairer electoral system. So […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY comes up with the first half of his rundown of the top 20.

The government abandoned rules for procurement at the time it matters the most, handing contracts to associates of the government and ill-qualified to deliver the services required. While the world’s eyes were fixed on mounting death tolls, NHS capacity and social distancing rules, we now know that the UK government was awarding an array of […]

PETER TRUDGILL explains the language rules that guide how we banter and who we should do it with. We have heard quite a lot about banter in recent times on the sports pages of newspapers. A footballer may complain that an opponent has said something insulting to them. The opponent’s defence is that what was […]

TIM WALKER on how José Ferrer found out the hard way that careers can end so abruptly. Stardom is not of course a lifestyle choice, but a phase that can sometimes be cruelly and inexplicably fleeting. José Ferrer could vouch for that. The Puerto Rican actor made it big in classic films such as I […]

After poking fun at the Conservative Party, MITCH BENN reports on the long road ahead for the Labour Party. Eagle-eyed (and elephant-brained) readers may recall that I spent all of last week’s column poking fun at the Conservative Party; specifically the way that occasional attempts by Tory politicians to look and act normal merely serve […]

To get to grips with the issue, all sides must engage more constructively, says JAMES BALL Even before the explosion of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate devastated its capital city at the start of this month, Lebanon was a country in crisis: its government was mired in scandal and corruption, unemployment was soaring, power cuts […]

Young black Americans are becoming the real ‘swing voters’ in elections – will Joe Biden’s pick of running mate help bring them on side? With his choice of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, Joe Biden may have helped bring young Black Americans to his side on Election Day. Only 47% of those Black […]

Scandals are mounting up for the government and could come to define it, says JAMES BALL. Once the mood music of a government has been established, it stays in place for a long time. Tony Blair’s premiership will forever be defined by the Iraq War, which will overshadow its many domestic accomplishments. Gordon Brown’s – […]

BONNIE GREER says Princess Anne epitomises a very British balancing act. One of the more interesting developments during my lockdown and Covid-caution has been that I have been asked to do several documentaries on the Royal Family. On the surface this may seem odd. After all, there are no royals from my birthplace, the Southside […]

TIM WALKER talks about the time the Amityville Horror star opened up about his depression In a kinder, gentler time in journalism – and in showbusiness – I used to phone up the press office of the Savoy and ask if they had anyone staying who’d make a good interview. No PR people involved, no […]

MITCH BENN says he is disturbed by Conservative politicians attempting to act normal. You may have run into the term ‘Uncanny Valley’; it’s an expression primarily used in the fields of robotics and computer animation. It refers to that uniquely uncomfortable phenomenon whereby the more human something looks, the more disturbing the fact that it’s […]

Boris Johnson’s latest peerage nominations included a number of his Brexiteer supporters, and even his own brother. But one reader thinks he should have gone further. Despite its obvious nepotism, the awarding of a life peerage to Jo Johnson seems one of the least obnoxious aspects of the appointments by ‘the people’s government’ addressing ‘the […]

Now is not yet time for pro-Europeans to make a move, but that time is coming. I will not go over Ben Bradshaw’s excellent summary of what happened after the referendum, but on the following Monday I bumped into one of my fellow councillors, on a council that must remain anonymous to protect the innocent. […]

If Boris Johnson wants to avoid becoming the prime minister who broke the union here is what he must do. I deeply love Scotland, the country of my birth, and having already been robbed of European citizenship, value my shared British identity. This is now at risk (Ian Dunt, ‘The battle for the Union is […]

MARTYN SLOMAN on why Jeremy Corbyn and Len McCluskey are unlikely to feature on the new leader’s list of concerns. When I worked as a training director one of my tasks was to help people in the organisation settle into the demands of a new job – a form of one-off mentoring. The best advice […]

SIMON KOLSTOE explains two simple tests you can carry out to check to see how effective your mask is. If a surgeon arrived at the operating theatre wearing a mask they had made that morning from a tea towel, they would probably be sacked. This is because the equipment used for important tasks, such as […]

Russia has attempted to tear apart the European Union, but instead it has brought it closer together. Russian interference in the Brexit referendum (‘The Russia Report and what it doesn’t tell us’, TNE #204) was driven, apparently, by its desire to weaken the European Union. I think recent events actually suggest the meddling has strengthened […]