News and Opinion

Boris Johnson has commissioned a wide-ranging independent review into Greensill Capital, the collapsed financial firm for which David Cameron lobbied ministers. Downing Street announced that lawyer Nigel Boardman is due to lead the probe, which will examine how government contracts were secured by the company and the actions of the former prime minister. Cameron accepted […]

Concerns about inequality in Britain is much higher than in any other European country, a new study has revealed. The end of lockdowns is in sight but the road out of these restrictions is only the start of a much longer journey to a full recovery from the pandemic. The crisis has ruthlessly exposed how […]

It is essential that lessons are not just identified, but robustly implemented to ensure the UK is more resilient to such events in the future. Where there is much to be positive about regarding the UK’s strong vaccine rollout, a public inquiry into how this pandemic has been handled in the country since the first […]

The government has been accused of rewriting chunks of its reports on racial disparities, an expert has claimed. Significant sections of the report published on March 31 – which has been widely criticised – were not written by the 12 commission appointed by Boris Johnson last July, the Observer reported. It also said none of the […]

A major voting rights effort is needed to ensure millions of people are not left off the electoral register, a campaign group has said. The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) warned that many people remain unregistered with only a week until the April 19 election registration deadline. It comes as figures published by the Electoral Commission […]

Gordon Brown has said former prime ministers “must never” lobby government for commercial purposes as he admonished David Cameron’s own efforts. The former prime minister also chided ministers who allowed Cameron to lobby them through unofficial channels.  Brown told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Former prime ministers must never be lobbying for commercial purposes. Current […]

A new cross-party group comprising of MPs, business leaders and economic exports is being established to provide independent scrutiny of the UK’s trade deals with Europe and the rest of the world. The Trade and Business Commission will be co-convened by Labour MP Hilary Benn and the chairman of Virgin Group, Peter Norris. It will […]

Leading pollster PETER KELLNER on the ways that public opinion on the issue has changed, and what it means for pro-Europeans. Two big lessons can be learned about public opinion since Britain’s agreement with the EU came into force in January. The first is that there has been a clear rise in support for Brexit. […]

The recent Dutch elections show how European politicians – and their electorates – can no longer separate EU affairs from national concerns. The recent Dutch elections kicked of a series of national parliamentary elections on the European continent: German elections are scheduled for September this year, followed by the French elections in May 2022. Given […]

David Cameron has defended meeting Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman during a business trip in January last year. The former British prime minister said he and scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill met the leader during a trip to the kingdom while advising on the country’s upcoming chairmanship of the G20. Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, […]

David Cameron has accepted he should have communicated with the government “through only the most formal of channels” as he acknowledged he made mis-steps over the Greensill Capital lobbying controversy. Breaking his weeks of silence, the former prime minister said in a statement that having “reflected on this at length” he accepts there are “important […]

Labour is preparing to heap pressure on Boris Johnson to act in the wake of the killing of Sarah Everard by pledging legislation to protect women and girls. Keir Starmer is planning to use what he believes is a watershed moment to press for the harassment of women on the street to become an offence […]

A year into his leadership, being ‘not-Corbyn’ is not enough. The Labour leader has to be visibly ‘post-Boris’. Here is some advice for the leader of the Labour Party from an unexpected source: “It’s odd, the Keir Starmer thing: he’s articulate, intelligent, good in the Commons, lots of common sense. But, for some reason, he […]

The pause in election campaigning as a mark of respect over the death of the Duke of Edinburgh is set to end after four days. Prime minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer agreed to the suspension on Friday when they spoke after hearing of Philip’s death at the age of 99. But […]

David Cameron took scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill for a “private drink” with health secretary Matt Hancock to discuss a payment scheme later rolled out in the NHS. The Sunday Times also reported that the Treasury reconsidered Greensill’s application for an emergency coronavirus loan after the former prime minister messaged a senior adviser to Boris Johnson. […]

Boris Johnson will not attend the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral to allow for the attendance of as many family members as possible during coronavirus restrictions, No 10 has said. The prime minister was understood to have been expected to attend the ceremony for Philip by the royals, but offered to step aside with the number […]

JAMES BALL on how the launch of the former first minister’s new party might play out at the polls. Alex Salmond and the intricacies of the Scottish voting system are not what Nicola Sturgeon wanted to be the focus in the run-up to this May’s Holyrood elections. Until just a few months ago, it felt like the […]

Every single person in a promotional picture on the front of the Daily Mail last year was white – including the carefree model family alongside the headline “William’s fury over too-white BAFTAs” Do you have the faintest idea what the prime minister looks like? No, I haven’t a clue either. If only newspapers would show […]

Sacha Jafri’s The Journey of Humanity – the world’s largest painting on canvas, which sold for $62m – is a prodigal waste of paint. Whatever else we may wish to say about The Journey of Humanity – the world’s largest existent painting on canvas, which sold at auction last week for $62m – one thing’s […]

Our football correspondent hails the departing Manchester City striker, the Premier League’s highest non-British scorer. In the Netherlands, club legends leave with a garland of flowers. At Manchester City, they are stacking up the statues. Three are on commission right now because in successive seasons Vincent Kompany, David Silva and now Sergio Agüero have retired […]

PETER TRUDGILL on death, and recent revival, of Cornish. After the first arrival of the Germanic Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons in the southwestern peninsula of England, British Celts began migrating across the Channel to Brittany to escape Germanic domination, thus reducing the Celtic population base of the area. By about 800 AD, the Saxons had taken […]

Beltrán Alfonso Osorio broke or fractured 107 bones in seven attempts at trying to finish the Grand National at Aintree For whichever jockey wins Saturday’s Grand National, it is likely to be a career-defining moment. One day you’re in the sports pages, the next you’re on the front pages. Yet, one of Aintree’s most celebrated […]

TIM WALKER on Dominic Cummings’ prospects on the after-dinner circuit. With apparently little else to do, Dominic Cummings is to try to cash in on his time in government on the after-dinner circuit – and has signed up with an outfit called Chartwell Speakers. One leading booker tells me, however, that his earnings are unlikely to make […]

Jacob-Rees Mogg, Boris Johnson and Matt Gaetz are in the firing line as comedian Mitch Benn hands out another set of his weekly awards. MASSIVE BRASS ONES OF THE WEEK …were to be found clanking away beneath the oddly-cut pinstripes of Britain’s Best Christian, Jacob Rees Mogg.  He welcomed the dawn on Easter Sunday by, […]

The European Commission president has floundered over Covid. But is it a sign of deeper problems within the Union? Perhaps it is because they are blond(e)s. That can be the only reason why Ursula von der Leyen has been compared to Boris Johnson. Yes, their fathers had jobs at the European Commission, and they spent […]

The SNP has described the comments made by Scottish Tory candidate Douglas Lumsden on Brexit as “appalling”. Lumsden, who is standing in Aberdeen Central, told BBC’s Newsnight that Brexit was “out of the way now”. The Aberdeen City Council co-leader also said that there were “some hiccups at the start of Brexit” but “we’re through […]

Election campaigning has been suspended by political parties following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. Voters will make their decision at the ballot box on May 6, including for council and mayoral positions in England, the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Parliament. A Conservative Party spokeswoman said: “In light of the sad news from Buckingham […]

There have been further calls for calm after another night of violence in Northern Ireland which left another 19 police officers injured. Secretary of state Brandon Lewis is to meet Stormont political parties to discuss the situation. The violence was at a lower level on Thursday evening than it had been on Wednesday, but officers […]

Rishi Sunak has been defended by a fellow Cabinet minister amid calls for an investigation after text messages showed he “pushed” officials to consider plans that could have helped a firm David Cameron was lobbying for. Labour questioned whether the chancellor had broken the ministerial code, while the SNP urged Mr Sunak to appear before […]

The Duke of Edinburgh has died, Buckingham Palace has announced. Philip, 99, was the longest-serving consort in British history. The duke and the Queen were married for more than 70 years and Philip dedicated decades of his life to royal duty, serving the nation at the monarch’s side. He officially retired from public engagements in […]

Germany’s conservatives face a big decision over Angela Merkel’s replacement Munching your Easter eggs may have drowned the sound of a rather significant clock that started ticking in Germany last Sunday. The conservatives pledged to give themselves between Easter and Pentecost (May 23 this year) to decide on their joint front runner for the general […]

Turkey has been left angered by Italian prime minister Mario Draghi after he branded the country’s president a “dictator” for humiliating European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The comments about Recep Tayyip Erdogan follows tension between EU leaders and the Turkish government after claims Von der Leyen had been snubbed at a key meeting in the country’s capital. The […]