News and Opinion

PETER TRUDGILL on how a chapter from its past has left the South American country swimming against a global tide One of the most appallingly bloody wars ever fought was the War of the Triple Alliance (in Spanish La Guerra de la Triple Alianza, Portuguese A Guerra da Tríplice Aliança). Also called the Paraguayan War, […]

The leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party are expected to formally sign off on a draft programme for government between their parties. The parties were edging towards agreement on forming a coalition government for the next five years, having overcome hurdles in the negotiations that have gone on for almost two […]

There is overwhelming support for the UK government to work with the EU during the coronavirus pandemic, with 77% saying it should work ‘very closely’. A survey from the Health Foundation indicated public support for an extension to the transition period to allow the government to focus on Covid-19, across two sample groups. Among the […]

Ministers rather than scientific advisers will take the final decision on whether to ease the two-metre social distancing rule, chancellor Rishi Sunak has said. Sunak confirmed that Boris Johnson has ordered a ‘comprehensive review’ of the rule in England as the government continues its lifting of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions. He said that it would […]

TIM WALKER writes of the esteemed actor and comedian Ronnie Corbett, a man full of life and enthusiasm. This is going to take a bit of explaining, but it was The Winslow Boy that introduced me to Ronnie Corbett. The late, great actor and comedian never appeared in the play, but his old friend Edward […]

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy has called out Boris Johnson for his recent tweets on Winston Churchill, querying why the prime minister has never tweeted so prolifically about coronavirus or the Windrush review. In confirming that he would not support the dismantling of the Churchill statue, Lammy described the prime minister’s acute interest in the […]

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has condemned ‘shocking’ and ‘disgusting’ scenes from the far-right in London, and claimed the mass condemnation of such events as signs of progress in society. https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1272081667033890816?s=20 In an interview designed to address the worrying economic situation in the UK, Sophy Ridge first directed Sunak to respond to the violent actions of the […]

John Cairncross, the so-called ‘fifth man’ of the Cambridge spy circle, has long been overshadowed by the other, more colourful, four. Yet a new book suggests he is most intriguing. IVOR GABER reports. John Cairncross, the fifth man of the Cambridge spy circle, was a spy like no other, as a recently published biography makes […]

With this year’s European Championships another victim of the coronavirus, MICK O’HARE looks back on the first ever tournament – 60 years ago this summer – another contest overshadowed by off-field events Soviet tanks cross a Budapest street as they move in to crush the anti-communist revolt. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) […]

Amazon already has as much power as nation states and its influence has only grown in the pandemic. In a special report, ALEXI MOSTROUS and JAMES BALL examine the leadership and culture of this global superpower. The Amazon headquarters sits virtually empty in March 2020 in downtown Seattle, Washington (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) – […]

Vincent Adejumo on why the US lacks the African American community leadership that took it through earlier eras of struggle. As protests rocked the United States in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, there was a notable absence in the national public discourse: African American community leaders. My […]

A Suffolk MP has apologised after sending names and addresses of constituents unhappy with a possible US trade deal as an attachment in an e-mail. The spreadsheet with details of 177 people was attached to the e-mail instead of a leaflet from the government explaining its food standards policies to people who had written to […]

The chief nursing officer for England was reportedly dropped from Downing Street daily briefings after refusing to support Dominic Cummings for breaking lockdown rules. According to the Independent, Ruth May was asked for her views on Boris Johnson’s adviser and the controversy surrounding his Durham visit and was subsequently dropped when she declined to support […]

Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois has claimed that the EU will ‘blink again’ over the government’s Brexit demands – despite the fact it was Boris Johnson who caved last time. Francois told the BBC News Channel he felt the EU would concede ground on contentious negotiating points such as the level playing field and fisheries as […]

Boris Johnson met with a developer at the centre of a new political controversy three times while mayor of London before approving his planning application for a London build. Whilst mayor Johnson met the property tycoon, Richard Desmond, on several occasions before giving his plans to build 722 sites the go-ahead, the Times reports. The […]

Nigel Farage has shrugged off the loss of his radio show, saying that it wasn’t as difficult as ending up in a plane crash in 2010. Appearing on talkRADIO, he insisted there was ‘no sour grapes’ over the decision for LBC to drop his radio programme after three years, which he said was decided ‘rather […]

Statues and monuments have an inherent context, writes MITCH BENN. They honour and elevate people and it’s legitimate to take down those we no longer respect. Like most of you, with the exception of some readers in Bristol, I’ve learned more about the 17th-18th century slave trading magnate (and, not that this changes anything, civic […]

The Scottish first minister is considered to have had a ‘good crisis’ yet is facing many of the same criticisms as Boris Johnson. Maurice Smith reports. The polls are looking good for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. Three months into the Covid-19 crisis and despite louder concerns over the length and depth of the lockdown, […]

Cabinet minister Michael Gove has officially locked the UK out of any Brexit extension during a meeting with EU officials. I just chaired a constructive EU Joint Committee meeting with @MarosSefcovicI formally confirmed the UK will not extend the transition period & the moment for extension has now passed. On 1 January 2021 we will […]

New polling has found that Sir Keir Starmer is one of the most popular opposition leaders since Tony Blair before his landslide Labour victory. The Labour leader has only been in the job two months but is already making a positive headway with voters, the data from IPSOS Mori found. In a survey of 1,059 […]

The government has delayed a Lib Dem bill to secure an extension to the Brexit transition period. Acting leader ED DAVEY says it is still putting ideology over the national interest at a time of crisis. Today should have been the second reading of the Liberal Democrats’ Bill to guarantee an extension to the Brexit […]

Twitter says it has removed more than 30,000 accounts from the platform which were being used to spread state-backed propaganda linked to China, Russia and Turkey. It said a total of 32,242 accounts had been removed with more than 23,000 linked to China, and 1,152 linked to Russia. The platform said the Chinese government had […]

The UK will not be involved in the European Union’s plans to fast track orders for a coronavirus vaccine, designed to ensure supplies for member states as soon as one is ready. The UK will not formally be a part of the programme, but an EU spokesperson suggested it would be able to benefit from […]

Readers have their say on the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, and a potential trade agreement with Donald Trump. Francis Beckett’s article ‘We’re being fattened up for a one-way deal with Trump’ was depressing enough, but added to Boris Johnson’s love for all things American, as quoted in his book Life in the Fast Lane, […]

Readers have their say on the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK, with the latest unrest triggered by the death of George Floyd in the US. As British media outlets scramble to find black/brown voices to comment on the horrors unfolding in America, the ‘thank-goodness-we’re-not-that-bad’ tone seems false to me. In the UK we […]

A majority of the public do not want the government to drop the two-metre social distance rule, polling has found. A snap poll by YouGov found that 58% of people want the rules to be kept at the current distance, while just under a quarter (24%) want it dropped to one metre. Support for the […]

The BBC’s head of news has defended reprimanding Emily Maitlis for her monologue over Dominic Cummings – pointing to a poll showing a third of people still supported the prime minister’s aide. Fran Unsworth defended the BBC’s ruling against the introduction on Newsnight which claimed Cummings had ‘broken the rules’ and ‘the country can see […]

The government is expected to abandon its plan to introduce full border checks with the EU from January 1 over fears of the economic impact of coronavirus. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove is expected to shortly announce the policy u-turn over border operations for when Brexit fully comes into effect at the end of the […]

Think you know Europe? Take our latest lockdown quiz As a New European reader, you probably reckon you know the continent inside out. Test yourself with our fiendish quiz…

If there were good cops in America, there were not enough of them, says BONNIE GREER. But here is what the police have learned in their turbulent history. I am a member of what has been called the ‘Burn baby burn’ generation who came of age in the mid to late 1960s – even if […]

Stephen Kissler on how the new virus might interact with existing seasonal cold and flu ones, and what it means for its spread SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is here to stay for the summer. What happens next, though, is unclear. One possibility is a major second wave in the autumn or winter. This […]

The platform has come of age in the pandemic, and politics has seized on it, as Penny CS Andrews explains A TikTok posted by a member of the Conservative party. Screenshot: @samuel stephenson74 – Credit: Archant TikTok, the viral video sharing platform, has been one of the biggest hits of lockdown. Content that originated on […]