News and Opinion

Brexit, and a careless attitude towards British influence in NATO, will consign the country to the margins and weaken the cornerstone of our defence, argues GEORGE ROBERTSON, the former NATO Secretary General The government claims that NATO will remain the cornerstone of Britain’s defence and that fact will not be affected by Brexit. As with […]

Why ‘no deal’ doesn’t work as a negotiating tactic, says JONATHAN POWELL – the man who helped negotiate peace in Northern Ireland At the beginning of the negotiations more than a year ago the Brexiteers breezily assured us a negotiated deal with the EU would be a piece of cake. It was in the Europeans’ […]

Our culture correspondent VIV GROSKOP profiles the greek director – described variously as part of film’s ‘Weird Wave’ and the cinematic answer to Kafka – who Hollywood is taking to heart Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is the new darling of Hollywood. His latest film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, stars Colin Farrell, an actor […]

New Ukip leader Henry Bolton named the party’s new ‘shadow cabinet’ today – and what a bunch they are Long-serving (two weeks, five days) Ukip leader Henry Bolton today unveiled his new ‘shadow cabinet’ – inviting mockery for a party with zero MPs and 1.8% of the vote. But that didn’t stop the New European […]

It might seem quixotic, at a time when Spain looks like it is falling apart, but could the country’s future lie in a union with neighbour Portugal? DAVID BARKER investigates ‘Iberism’ As events in Catalonia continue to expose Spain’s core fragility and the Iberian peninsula’s vulnerability to splintering into several smaller states, it is a […]

Catalonians against self-rule came out in their thousands the weekend before last. They, the hitherto unseen and unheard, proved the region was divided. As are we on Brexit and Scotland on independence from the UK. Such fundamental disagreements, counterintuitively, are good for democracy and the world. It’s oh so easy to get carried away by […]

Has history been fair to the Bee Gees? Long accused of cultural theft, arrogance and – worst of all – naffness, they risk being remembered as a pastiche. But behind the band’s baggage SOPHIA DEBOICK discovers a far more complex legacy When Barry Gibb donned a gold lamé jacket thrown on stage at the conclusion […]

ALEXANDRA HADDOW on the Nordic trendsetters who have style sussed A couple of weeks ago when I needed a new pair of jeans and asked around as to who is doing the best denim, the answer was unanimous – Weekday. The Swedish brand has just opened a shop in central London, I bought a pair. […]

A second referendum that reverses Brexit would have a “positive” and “significant” impact on the UK economy, which is on track to be crippled by its EU divorce, an influential think tank claimed today. The latest UK economic survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects economic growth of just 1% next […]

The question, in a quiet voice, came from a woman in the audience at the Henley Festival’s Brexit debate, in a quiet voice: ‘So what do I tell my children now? They planned to live and work for a time in Europe. What now?’ The question was aimed at Douglas Carswell: ‘What now?’ Carswell, a […]

Making money is no longer enough for firms, say ANGELA JAMESON Is it possible for businesses to do well and do good? Over the years I’ve discussed ethical sourcing and child labour over a five-star dinner in Mayfair, with a chief executive who has racked up 5,000 air miles to impart his wisdom to British […]

Millions of families already struggling with soaring prices could end up being another £500 worse off if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal, according to a report. The average yearly household bill would rise by £260 in a ‘no deal’ scenario in which Britain imposes the same tariffs on the EU […]

A day of action across the UK saw thousands of people take to the streets to demand Brexit is stopped. Protests at the weekend in London, Cambridge, Bristol, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Reading, Cardiff and York kept the pressure on the government to listen to growing concerns over leaving the European Union. In the […]

People have been asking me if I know Simon Brodkin, the character-comedian/prankster who interrupted the Prime Minister’s conference speech to hand her a mock redundancy notice. I wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘know’; we’ve bumped into each other a few times on the comedy circuit over the years. I remember being quite impressed […]

Angela Merkel’s power has taken a blow in the wake of the German election. Here Tony Paterson reports from Berlin on the new shape of German politics. Angela Merkel may have been responsible for the worst German conservative general election performance in almost 70 years but she is not showing much remorse about it. In […]

The process by which the far-right has infected the mainstream of British politics has been a gradual one, says author PAUL STOCKER. Those responsible are not just the usual suspects. A prominent British politician addressing a far-right rally in Germany may have, in simpler times, reflected an act of political suicide. Not in Brexit Britain. […]

The connection between Dom Pérignon and the pioneering Benedictine monk from which it takes its name is not as simple as is often stated. Although he is sometimes credited with it, Pierre Pérignon (the ‘Dom’ is an honorific, derived from Dominus, for monks from the order) was not responsible for the creation of sparkling wine. […]

Don’t believe the government’s bluff that it is preparing for a ‘no deal’ outcome to negotiations, says anti-Brexit campaigner GINA MILLER. It has no plan. There are times in life when we just need to stop the pretence, stop the bluffing, stop the wishful thinking and face facts – when we need to speak in […]

Roland Garros had every intention of pursuing a career as a concert pianist. An air show outside Reims during the late summer of 1909 changed all that. Aviation came of age at an air show outside Reims during the late summer of 1909. Held during the third week in August, the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de […]

Since the murder of her son Stephen, Doreen Lawrence has fought for justice and racial harmony. EMMA JONES hears what she thinks Britain still needs to do to combat discrimination. It is almost 25 years since Stephen Lawrence was murdered in south east London in a sickening racist attack. He would now be 43. Now […]

MICHAEL WHITE on why the fat fibber is best left in office where he can do himself maximum harm. That went well, didn’t it? Still tottering after her near-death experience on the party conference circuit, Theresa May turned up at the House of Commons to reassure MPs that there is slow but steady progress in […]

PAUL KNOTT finds unlikely inspiration for the anti-Brexit cause in a 40-year-old document from behind the Iron Curtain which succeeded in exposing the flaws inherent in a doomed system. Among 2017’s many notable anniversaries – from the Reformation to the Russian Revolution – is another in danger of slipping by without due attention, and one […]

This week’s podcast looks at the the Racial Disparity Audit and the Brexiteer of the Week. A review of the week’s Brexit news with host Richard Porritt, joined by Steve Angelsey and Geri Scott. Richard, Steve and Geri round up another week in politics, take a look at the Racial Disparity Audit and crown another […]

The government’s latest intervention in the housing market is a yet another symptom of a distracted administration failing to grasp the right solutions, says ANGELA JAMESON. Our housing market is broken, even the Government admitted as much earlier this year. So why then, is Theresa May pumping more tax payers’ money into the Help to […]

Even before it has happened, Brexit is reducing Britain’s power in Europe and so our standing in the world. Diplomats and civil servants know it. Business leaders know it. Our Prime Minister knows it, and probably looks so strained and ill because having – unlike her clownish Foreign Secretary – gone into the detail she […]

RICHARD PORRITT with this week’s big stories. ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ asked a depressed Number 10 staffer at the news Theresa May was to do an LBC phone-in. She wanted to talk about the government’s newly-announced race audit but the callers wanted to talk about that and much more. One asked about whether she […]

The Chancellor has admitted no Brexit deal could leave planes grounded in March 2019. Addressing the Commons Treasury committee Philip Hammond said crashing out of the European Union could have a devastating impact on the UK with cargo and passenger planes unable to fly. He did say he believed the scenario was unlikely but could […]

It’s not a stretch to say that the economics of digital advertising are to blame for disasters like Brexit and Trump. It sounds simplistic, but the means by which the news and opinion that sway public opinion get disseminated is dictated by which is likely to generate revenue for news publishers. Unfortunately, over the past […]

Boris Johnson is desperate to get into Number 10 – but it seems the Prime Minister has other ideas. How to deal with the rogue foreign secretary is no doubt giving Theresa May some sleepless nights. Does she have the power to sack him? Would kicking him out of the cabinet make him more powerful? […]

We’re living in the Age of Cool Dad, with politicians obsessed with burnishing their pop culture credentials, says SAMIRA AHMED. It was a detail which might have escaped wider attention, were it not for social media. But there was Twitter, to capture photographer Gary He’s observation – accompanied by two pictures of the Canadian Prime […]

Plenty of books create beautiful evocations of the cities in which they are set. But far fewer succeed in elevating their locations from a backdrop into a central character. CHARLIE CONNELLY selects a few. On learning of the death of J.P. Donleavy on September 11 at the age of 91 I eschewed the most appropriate […]

Theresa May has claimed ‘the ball is in their court’ in a statement to the House of Commons updating MPs on the Brexit negotiations. Brussels, however, disagree. The European Commission’s chief spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, confirmed Britain was still some way from progressing the talks which have stalled. ‘There is a clear sequencing to these talks,’ […]