News and Opinion

Greta Scacchi reveals her thoughts about Hollywood and how she retained her self-respect at all times. You could be forgiven for thinking that before the Me Too movement began to get traction three years ago, men in Hollywood had behaved impeccably towards women. That of course is arrant nonsense and Greta Scacchi was one of […]

Boris Johnson is set to avoid the latest Downing Street press conference following reports of in-fighting at the heart of his administration. There had been planned to be an update on coronavirus on Thursday afternoon, but it will be left to business secretary Alok Sharma to update the nation. He will be joined by NHS England […]

Downing Street has dismissed claims that the in-fighting at the heart of government shows that Boris Johnson is distracted from tackling coronavirus. Responding to Labour leader Keir Starmer’s criticisms that he is not focusing “on the job in hand”, his official spokesperson said that he was “absolutely focused” on the pandemic.  The spokesman said: “The prime minister is […]

A former Tory minister has attacked Jacob Rees-Mogg over claims that MPs working from home were “shirking” their duties. Tracey Crouch, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, suggested that measures Rees-Mogg imposed prohibiting MPs from voting remotely meant parliamentarians like her were not able to participate in crucial divisions. She said: “(Rees-Mogg) will be aware there […]

Nigel Farage has dismissed suggestions he is not taking Covid-19 seriously after launching an anti-lockdown outfit to fight against measures designed to protect people from the pandemic. The Brexit Party leader, who hopes to rebrand his organisation as Reform UK, has revealed his own family has tested positive with the illness. Appearing on Times Radio, […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on the actress María Casares, wrenched from a privileged, happy childhood, to the uncertainty of a life in exile and a career characterised by a constant desire to challenge herself. María Casares could never be accused of making things easy for herself. Renowned as one of the great tragediennes of the European stage and […]

This week, former prime minister Sir John Major made a piercing, patriotic speech on Brexit Britain and its place in the world, identifying the problems and suggesting solutions. The future of ‘the state we’re in’ requires plain speaking if we are to be honest with our nation. And, of course, with ourselves. The great powers […]

A television presenter has said she would “rather boil my head in a vat of oil” than support Nigel Farage’s new anti-lockdown party. In a powerful takedown of Ann Widdecombe’s support for the new organisation, Jemma Forte told Jeremy Vine on 5: “Because what it’s doing is really exploiting something that has caused pain and […]

PETER TRUDGILL on the lost links that gave us surnames like Nelson, Hobson, Hodgson and Dodgson. There are not too many men about nowadays who are called Peter, but those of us who do still bear this name are quite liable to get called Pete, especially by family and friends.  In the same way, women […]

William Hogarth exposed the chaos, hypocrisy, corruption and pollution of the world around him. A new exhibition showcases his work and that of contemporary artists performing similar tasks in their own society. The first image to greet the visitor to the exhibition, Hogarth: London Voices , London Lives is a photograph of a block of […]

A Tory MP who complained about a National Trust report into slavery and colonialism has had his argument picked to pieces live on air. Journalist and commentator Dalia Gebrial tore apart Ben Bradley’s claim that the National Trust was attempting to “sanitise” history by highlights links between its properties and slavery. The National Trust came under heavy […]

Michael Gove has been criticised by Labour for failing to answer a “basic question” on how many customs agents are ready to deal with Brexit at the end of the transition period in six weeks’ time. Shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves was asking Brexiteer Gove about the fact that the transition period now ends […]

Geoffrey Howe – the story behind the greatest Commons speech ever made. The most memorable thing about Sir Geoffrey Howe was how unmemorable he was. Margaret Thatcher’s most decorated cabinet colleague – he was her chancellor, foreign secretary and deputy prime minister – had many qualities but charisma wasn’t one of them. Hence Denis Healey’s […]

Communist China once traced its roots to the end of the county’s civil war in 1949. A new, official narrative, however, is nudging the start of its march to global power back to the Second World War. Historian RANA MITTER explains the significance of this shift In China, there are a lot of very rich people. There are also […]

Roy Jenkins – the man that helped Britain join the European Community. This week sees the 100th anniversary of the birth of Roy Jenkins, one of the outstanding British statesmen of the post-war period. He was one of the greatest reforming home secretaries in history, arguably the most successful chancellor of the exchequer since the […]

Question Time tonight features a virtual audience drawn from Dover, home town of Clash drummer Topper Headon. But who should stay – and who should go? Here’s your guide to the panel… Matt Hancock Who? Health secretary The increasingly less boy-faced health secretary ran for the Conservative leadership approximately 100 years ago – 2019 – with a […]

Boris Johnson has lost his chief spin doctor after a power struggle in Downing Street. Here are some of the key questions around the turmoil in Number 10. What has happened? Lee Cain is quitting the Number 10 operation, where he had been Johnson’s director of communications, although he will remain in post until the […]

An Australian lawyer has slammed Priti Patel for appearing to copy her country’s asylum seeker policy, adding that any “decent” country would not process refugees offshore. Madeline Gleeson, a human rights lawyer, said the move to copy Australia’s immigration policy was “deeply concerning” and warned Westminster MPs against following suit. Gleeson’s comment comes after leaked documents showed the […]

The two films – and a TV show – that helped make conspiracy theories mainstream. So let’s recap. This virus that you’re all so scared of isn’t actually real, just a flammed-up cold that’s been exaggerated to enslave the easily-led. But if it is real, then it was cooked up in a government laboratory either […]

MPs have hit out at the lack of transparency behind a process of distributing billions of taxpayers’ money to towns across England, fuelling fears of “political bias”. The cross-party Commons Public Accounts Committee said the process for selecting communities to benefit from the £3.6 billion Towns Fund was “not impartial” and risked undermining the integrity […]

As Boris Johnson attempts a pivot to Joe Biden his time is running out. It may be time to dig out that line of Kipling in which the imperial poet, almost certainly an instinctive Brexiteer, tells us all to beware “those two imposters”, triumph and disaster. Yes, it looks as if an effective Covid-19 vaccine […]

A series of Brexiteers in the Labour Party are demanding an apology from Keir Starmer for opposing Brexit when he was in charge of the party’s policy. The former Jeremy Corbyn frontbenchers say that Starmer cannot rebuild trust with “red wall” voters without “settling of accounts” on the issue. Laura Smith, Jon Trickett, and Ian […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has slammed the infighting in Downing Street after Boris Johnson’s director of communications walked out, with Dominic Cummings considering resigning.  “This is pathetic. I think millions of people will be waking up this morning, scratching their heads, saying what on earth is going on? “We’re in the middle of a […]

Dominic Cummings could resign from Downing Street as Boris Johnson’s senior aide after Lee Cain was forced out as director of communications. Former Vote Leave communications chief Cain had been expected to enter Boris Johnson’s inner circle by becoming his chief of staff, ahead of Allegra Stratton joining the government as press spokesperson. But there […]

A former Labour frontbencher used his maiden speech in the House of Lords to express his pride at having helped to stop Jeremy Corbyn win the general election. John Woodcock, who sits as Lord Walney in the upper chamber, also revealed his criticism of the ex-party leader, had strained long-term friendships and also led to […]

The European Union has set the UK government a seven-day deadline over Brexit talks, as the bloc warns time is running out to ratify transitional arrangements. Officials on both sides are pessimistic about a deal being reached in the coming days, with the EU wanting an agreement by mid-November in order to allow MEPs to scrutinise the agreement […]

A Conservative MP has been criticised for suggesting ballet and opera is enjoyed by many people in the south of England while northerners prefer football, as he warned “northern culture” is being hit by Covid-19. Former minister Jake Berry, whose previous government position included the northern powerhouse brief, compared Accrington Stanley to the Royal Ballet as he […]

The election of Joe Biden is a rare moment of opportunity for British advocates of internationalism to help cement the president-elect’s world view. The moment will be short-lived. The news agenda will move on and the Bannon/Cummings right will regroup and chip away at the new White House. Now is the time for Keir Starmer, […]

Historian Dan Snow has been left with his head in his hands after a Brexiteer made comparisons between Joe Biden’s support for the Good Friday Agreement and American support for the IRA. Lowri Turner -a former journalist and television presenter – appeared on the Jeremy Vine on 5 show to say that Biden was “not helpful” […]

At Westminster today, the talk was of a reshuffle of Boris Johnson’s top team – no, not the cabinet, but the people actually running the country: the rag-tag bunch of unelected former Vote Leave staffers who surround the prime minister.  Johnson is said to want to appoint Lee Cain, his hapless communications chief once employed […]

A minister has hit out at the “politicisation” around questions about contracts and public funding being handed to associates of the Tory party. Alex Chalk, a justice minister, was forced to defend the government over allegations of “cronyism” from a Labour shadow minister on Politics Live. Labour’s Jo Stevens explained: “It raises another issue… the amount of […]

Keir Starmer has slammed Boris Johnson over his government’s lack of “basic accountability” over private contracts during the coronavirus pandemic. Labour cited Cabinet Office data as showing the communications company spend between January and September, adding the total does not include the cost of special advisers and civil servants working on press matters. He told MPs: […]