Opinion

As part of our special edition looking at five years since the EU referendum, Alastair Campbell looks at the silence of the Leavers Weatherspoon’s boss Tim Martin inevitably attracted heaps of scorn when recently bemoaning staff shortages for his pubs, and demanding the government allow more EU migrants to fill the gap. But at least he […]

A list of the chancellor's latest meetings show he has been busier than the rest of the cabinet, and is not necessarily sticking to his own brief

Writer and historian MISHA GLENNY on attempts to revive an alliance of democracies to withstand the threats of the modern age Joe Biden is running out of time. In just 17 months, he faces mid-term elections when the Democrats are almost certain to lose their wafer-thin congressional majority. In that period, he hopes to steer […]

Troubled tennis player Naomi Osaka sparked outrage on the circuit by pulling out of French Open press conferences and then the tournament itself – but she will be vindicated In August 202, at the height of the protests against the public police murder of George Floyd, Naomi Osaka said: “Before I am an athlete, I […]

An acute shortage of workers facing many sectors is being spun as a consequence of Covid, not Brexit. Don’t believe it… The weather is warmer, the days are longer, the sun is (sometimes) shining, and pubs are – for the moment at least – one again open and serving. Just one fly in the ointment: there’s a […]

The Benin Bronzes have a special status in the debate over cultural artefacts taken during the colonial era. Author Barnaby Phillips explains why, and why the British Museum’s approach to the debate is unsustainable At the end of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee summer, in September 1897, the British Museum hosted an unusual exhibition. It was something of a […]

Remembering the moment when the world’s most famous sportsman was bundled out of his hotel by rebel gunmen Sport and politics have always mixed, but they have never collided quite so spectacularly as they did in the lobby of Havana’s Hotel Lincoln on February 23, 1958. That day, as five-time Formula 1 champion and possibly the […]

George Sand is no longer widely read, but once eclipsed many of the greatest names in 19th century European literature, writes CHARLIE CONNELLY

Problems are mounting for thousands of Britons in Spain and the rest of Europe who chose not to apply for residency after Brexit It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain… and also in the parts of Europe where UK ex-pats (because people are only called ‘migrants’ when they don’t […]

The Chinese government’s pursuit of strategic objectives via financial investment has set up a showdown with critics in the marshes of the south east. The village of Bradwell-on-Sea on the Essex coast is so remote that one local newspaper likened a visit to “driving along the edge of the world”. It sits on a gravel and […]

The public is happy to stand by as the nation burns to the ground Alastair Campbell has hit the nail on the head. It seems most people do not care about a prime minister who routinely breaks the law with impunity and who is able to lie and cheat without any consequence. What example does […]

Leaders of the main Westminster parties are failing to call out this catastrophic error Alastair Campbell is absolutely right – a majority of the UK population appears not to give a toss about Johnson’s failings, lies, false claims and dodgy dealings, but he should be assured that a lot of people are angry about the damage […]

The country's historical and recent anguish provides a strong undercurrent to its music.

It will take decades for us to understand what has happened during this pandemic. What has happened to our brains and our minds. Just as we can now see that the Roaring Twenties were partly created out of the so-called Spanish Flu pandemic of 1919, our own Roaring Twenties will take us years to comprehend. […]

Nothing will better define this European club football season than Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid upsetting Real and Barcelona to win La Liga When we come to analyse the European club season that ended with Chelsea’s deserved victory in the Champions League final, nothing will better define the fight against adversity – the empty stadiums, the pandemic, […]

Marcus Rashford has the power of appeal with voters that Labour’s leadership currently does not have

Covid has been characterised by the asymmetry of the suffering it has caused. So as the country opens up once more, how can it come together again? There have been two jarring stories in Covid news recently. The first was the testimony of Dominic Cummings, which crescendoed with the statement “thousands of people died who needn’t have […]

How, even when speaking clearly, true meaning can get lost when different nationalities communicate “Hello Tanit, hope you don’t have a hangover”, I read, nodding. “Are you able to file soon?” I wasn’t. Not soon, anyway. But I felt extremely lucky to have a English editor. Even when I miss a deadline he writes friendly emails. A German […]

Britain is moving, in fits and starts, towards new political equilibrium between London, the devolved nations and the regions Is Britain becoming more like Europe politically? The question may seem preposterous in the immediate aftermath of Brexit and a tightening grip in England by an ultra-nationalist Conservative party. But perhaps not. Last month’s elections – Super […]

The US president was expected by many, including his supporters, to be an uninspiring, unimaginative and ineffective leader. He is confounding those expectations in spectacular style When Joe Biden seemed to just limp over the line in the race for the White House last November, the considered opinion seemed to be that the nature of his victory – […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson is all about theatre – and so is his revived Carrier Strike Group There’s something curiously out-of-focus about the Prime Minister, isn’t there? I mean, I’ve been up close and pretty personal with him on a number of occasions, and I still can’t help seeing him with a sort of fuzzy […]

Liz Truss is a great cabinet survivor and darling of the Tory members. But will her controversial trade deal with Australia curb her ascent? Perhaps it’s a measure of misogyny in the parliamentary lobby that Boris Johnson’s main acknowledged successors are Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove. The choice of who replaces him as prime […]

PETER TRUDGILL picks apart another popular subject for pedants Are you alright? Or are you all right? Is alright one word or two? A number of people seem to feel rather strongly about this issue, and some of them are adamant that to write alright is totally not all right. They think that all right is the only “correct” way to write […]

The real divide in this country is between those appalled by the PM’s behaviour and those who just don’t care We keep being told everyone is angry. Hence the rage, abuse and hatred that biles its way onto social media, every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I am beginning to […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson made an honest – or at least an honestly mistaken – woman of the nation’s erstwhile first side-chick Ms. Carrie Symonds ACT OF WEAPONS-GRADE OPTIMISM OF THE WEEK In perhaps the most startling, last minute of stoppage-time victory ever scored by hope over experience, our beloved leader Boris Johnson finally made […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on the woman behind an 80-year-old masterpiece, one of the most important books about Europe of the last century A couple of weeks ago a tweet by the American novelist Jake Wolff made me laugh out loud. It read, “Creative nonfiction writers be like: I first ate a hotdog when I was six […]

An ‘oven-ready’ deal for social care exists – it’s time the prime minister delivered on his promise.

It has been another gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain – although sadly not gloomy enough for residents of Ashford, Kent. After voting 59.4% to Leave in the referendum, Ashfordians have been rewarded with a light show. Alas, rather than fireworks celebrating our independence from the EU, the nightly display comes from […]

In his work, and in his life, Joseph Roth chronicles the old order that was swept away in the first half of the 20th century According to Joseph Roth his earliest memory was of watching his mother give away his cradle to a woman he’d never seen before. She “holds it to her chest, as though […]

Such is Liverpool’s immense musical heritage that the city is not overshadowed by its most famous sons Liverpool makes its own mythology. In February 1967, the Beatles released the double A-side Penny Lane/ Strawberry Fields Forever, not only creating a new paradigm for Britishness in pop on one side and all but single-handedly creating psychedelia on […]

It's not Matt Hancock that should be facing calls to resign - it's the prime minister

How the friendship of tragic poets Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, forged over long, cocktail-soaked lunches, paved the way for the rest of us In 1950s America, white, middle-class women were not supposed to be ambitious. In fact, women were respected for not pursuing their own careers and instead focusing their attentions on the home […]