News and Opinion

Dr Josef Vengloš’ brief stint in charge of Aston Villa is remembered, if at all, as a failure. But 30 years on, it can be seen also as a crucial moment in the transformation of English football, says Roger Domeneghetti. On an unseasonably warm night in October 1990, Elton Welsby welcomed the viewers of ITV’s […]

GEORGE KYRIS and AGON DEMJAHA on the states like Kosovo that have yet to fully take shape. If we look at a map, the world appears neatly organised into a patchwork of states. They are clearly named and have clear borders. Yet, a closer looks reveals a much more complicated picture. Across the globe, groups […]

Boris Johnson will visit politicians in Northern Ireland on Thursday in a bid to shore up the Union following a rise in support for its break-up. The prime minister will press the importance of the United Kingdom in talks with the region’s first minister Arlene Foster,of the DUP, and deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill, of […]

The PM may have been thinking ‘tactically’ when he honoured the wife of his biographer Tom Bower, writes TIM WALKER. If Boris Johnson hoped the knighthood he conferred upon Philip May would make his wife Theresa a less critical backbencher, he may have been thinking tactically, too, about the peerage he conferred upon the former […]

Political campaigners Led By Donkeys have revealed their latest billboard which blasts Boris Johnson for delivering the highest death toll in Europe during the coronavirus pandemic. The group, who made their mark for anti-Brexit billboards, plastered a Goliath-sized poster of the now infamous picture of Boris Johnson dangling from a zip wire while he was […]

A new coronavirus contact tracing app will be trialled in England this week after the government finally followed advice and utilised technology from Apple and Google. The initial version tested on the Isle of Wight was ditched by the government in June over accuracy issues, weeks after health secretary Matt Hancock first suggested it would […]

MICHAEL WHITE on a summer of chaos across the world as the temperature rises. People take to the sea as they enjoy the hot weather on Hayling Island beach in Hampshire. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire – Credit: PA Amazing how a heatwave seems to make people go a bit crazy, isn’t it? I was sheltering […]

ANDREW ADONIS on the country’s troubled past and its hope for the future. In the 1950s and 1960s, Lebanon was known as ‘the Switzerland of the East’ and Beirut ‘Paris of the Middle East’. Then came a civil war. Switzerland had one of those too, in 1847, lasting 26 days with 93 deaths. Lebanon’s lasted […]

Dominic Cummings and Munira Mirza – two key advisors to prime minister Boris Johnson – will be moving into the Cabinet Office in the latest sign of a major shake up of the civil service. Johnson is moving his most senior advisors to 70 Whitehall and removing the door that separates the two buildings in […]

The government has been accused of ‘closing the stable door after the horse has bolted’ after advertising for a new ‘Head of Pandemic Preparedness’ six months after coronavirus arrived in the UK. The Mirror reports that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will interview internal applicants for the ‘newly created and high-profile’ job, […]

A possible trade deal between Downing Street and the White House have suffered a major set back after talks were delayed until next spring, reports claim. With the US election due in November, a possible deal between the US and UK before the Brexit transition period ended was unlikely, but it now looks unachievable. The […]

A Tory MP has suggested that the UK government takes control of Calais from France to stop migrants crossing the English channel. Long-standing Tory Brexiteer MP Edward Leigh made the claim on Twitter, suggesting that the English and French return to the border arrangements of the late 16th century. Calais was under English rule for […]

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 […]

A Tory politician has lost his job and has been suspended from the party after blaming a local lockdown and spike in infections on ‘illegal immigrants’ and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. Bob Allen, a Tory councillor, said that a spike in infections in Greater Manchester was a result of ‘illegal immigrants’, ‘the […]

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 […]

The figure showing the number of people infected with coronavirus was omitted from a government website on the same day case loads rose above the safety threshold. The daily figure, which usually appears on the Department for Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) website, was not published on Tuesday night on the same day the UK […]

A national radio host has challenged Tory backers who claim the government is doing its best to help the public by listing all the policy errors it has made since the coronavirus pandemic. James O’Brien, a host on LBC radio, said it was ‘about time’ the public wake up and realise the carnage unleashed on […]

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 […]

New Zealand’s deputy prime minister has said the UK government is not ‘match fit’ for negotiations over a post-Brexit trade deal. Winston Peters, who leads the New Zealand First party and is in a coalition government with Jacinda Ardern, said he was ‘very frustrated’ with the progress. But Peters, who has reportedly hired Leave.EU to […]

Boris Johnson’s claim about the UK being ‘world beating’ during the pandemic has come back to haunt him as the UK economy contracted into a ‘record-breaking’ recession. Many took to Twitter to express their frustrations over news the UK’s economy shrunk by 20.4% between April and June – the largest drop of any major global […]

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has claimed that the first day of independence from the European Union will leave Brexiteers angry – as it will not be what they voted for. Despite backing the Brexit deal in the European Parliament, and celebrating the start of the transition period on January 31, the leading Brexiteer has […]

Boris Johnson’s approval rating with the Scottish people now sits at -50 points, a hundred points lower than the country’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon. Polling by YouGov, carried out for the Times, found that Sturgeon was on +50 points as her approval rating continues to soar following her handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson has […]

A Tory education minister has given his handling of calculating A-level results an ‘A-‘, despite an 11th U-turn on the way they are done. Nick Gibb made the claim while promoting the government’s latest measures to the way A-level results are calculated on breakfast TV – a mere 24 hours before they are expected to […]

Westminster’s ‘tardy’ lockdown meant that the coronavirus infection rate for London in April was as high as Stockholm in Sweden where the government there was pursuing a ‘herd immunity’ strategy. A new study looked at antibody tests – which determine whether a person has previously been infected – showing that 17% of people in both […]

A Tory immigration minister had an embarrassing moment on live television when he forgot what country he was from during an interview over border security discussions with France. Immigration minister Chris Philp was speaking to reporters in Paris following the end of talks with his French counterpart. The two minster had met to negotiate a […]

The Tories have gone to war with ice cream brand Ben and Jerry’s after it took aim at home secretary Priti Patel for her stance on asylum seekers crossing the English Channel. The ice cream company used Twitter to attack the home secretary, who has set the Navy on those attempting to enter the UK […]

Boris Johnson’s summer holiday plans to take a trip to Scotland will ‘finish off his relationship’, the prime minister’s ex has joked. Johnson is reportedly planning to take his fiancee Carrie Symonds and three-month-old son Wilfred on a camping holiday in Scotland. But after his sister Rachel Johnson remained sceptical about whether the prime minister […]

The government has announced it is planning take action over online political advertising, claiming it is responding to concerns raised about the 2016 Brexit referendum. Despite much of the questionable content from the Brexit referendum originating from the Vote Leave campaign, which was masterminded by Boris Johnson and key adviser Dominic Cummings, the government has […]

Nearly half of the UK public think the government have done more than its fair share to accommodate refugees compared to other European countries. A new YouGov poll found 46% of the public believe the UK has done more than enough, compared to its neighbouring countries, with 19% thinking it is has done about the […]

Priti Patel has been slammed by journalists for avoiding media scrutiny during a visit to the Kent coastline, instead opting to record her own video to give her thoughts. A video clip was posted on the Home Office’s official Twitter page showing the home secretary touring Dover port and speaking to customs officials. Her visit […]

Scotland’s Tory Party leader said he now has ‘trust’ in Boris Johnson despite resigning from giverbnebt in May over the prime minister’s refusal to sack Dominic Cummings. Douglas Ross became leader last week, mere months after resigning from the Westminster government over the prime minister’s failure to fire his top advisor over his lockdown-breaking trip […]

Experts have urged caution over Russia’s coronavirus vaccine claim after Russian president Vladimir Putin said it has been registered for use and one of his daughters has already been inoculated. Putin insisted that the jab underwent the necessary tests and offers a lasting immunity from coronavirus. Speaking at a government meeting, Putin said: ‘I would […]