Opinion

JAMES BALL recounts his own experience of hate crime and explains why politicians must do more than pay lip service on LGBT rights. On a summer’s night nine years ago, leaving a gay club night – annoyingly early, to catch the last tube and go into work the next day – I found myself suddenly […]

Broadcaster Clive Tyldesley on the sheer joy of last Sunday’s sporting action, and why Jacob Rees-Mogg clearly just doesn’t get it. I take no pleasure in comparing Jacob Rees-Mogg to a drunken England fan but they simply deserve each other. Both will have enjoyed the Cricket World Cup final for all the wrong reasons. Actually, […]

On a week united in sporting glory, Boris is bowled out by an old pro. MICHAEL WHITE discusses the ups of sport and the lows of a divided Britain. England captain Eoin Morgan (left) stands with his players and youngsters from Highgate Cricket Club for the national anthem ahead of during the ICC World Cup […]

In a powerful open letter, AC Grayling asks Remain-voting Labour MP Lisa Nandy how she can justify her subsequent support for Leave when she knows how harmful it will be to her constituents, who nonetheless voted to leave by nearly 64%. At the recent UK in a Changing Europe conference on July 15, I heard […]

MITCH BENN says it’s time we all call out the lies and expose the liars peddling the myths about the EU and Europe. I’m in the home stretch before heading up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, so my life consists primarily of coffee-fuelled songwriting and joke-rewriting sessions, interspersed with preview shows, each slightly […]

If Sir Kim Darroch had ever had any doubt about the accuracy of his comments the president’s reaction must have served as vindication. Sometimes, nothing justifies an action so much as its own response. So it has proven – at high stakes, in different ways – for two groups this week. The first is Sir […]

The New York prosecutor terrifying the president President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) – Credit: AP The average American is brought up to see their country’s constitution as a kind of Holy Writ. It holds within it the creation of the union of the 50 sovereign states themselves, small nations which have agreed to […]

MITCH BENN discusses the issue of anti-Semitism in the Labour party. At time of writing, I don’t know whether Chris Williamson has been re-admitted, re-expelled or re-re-admitted to the Labour Party. I do know that Alastair Campbell is still out for the foreseeable, as he told me when we met at the People’s Vote rally […]

The deforestation of the rainforests might seem a remote concern for us. In fact, the causes and the consequences are very close to home. JAMES BALL reports. The Duchess of Cornwall walks through the Rainforest Research Project centre, on the outskirts of Manaus, in central Brazil. Picture: John Stillwell/PA Archive/PA Images – Credit: PA Archive/PA […]

JAMES BALL on how Jeremy Corbyn is in a no-win situation when it comes to deciding his position on Brexit and the parallels this has with a training scenario in the TV series Star Trek. Jason Isaacs who played Gabriel Lorca in the TV series Star Trek. Corbyn faces a no-win situation when it comes […]

BONNIE GREER discusses the importance of Donald Trump winning the presidency vote in Arizona. There is something about the state of Arizona, there is always a kind of question about it. It is undoubtedly the West but unlike, say, Texas there is something that is difficult to pin down. But a kind of answer could […]

While the UK struggles even to roll over its current trade arrangements, the EU has created a market of 700 million people in a historic trade deal. DR PAUL BEHRENS argues why replicating that after Brexit is no simple matter. These are exciting times for the European Union: on Friday, the EU concluded its trade […]

From the Die Hard films to the Proms, via Rhodesia and Tiananmen Square, Ode to Joy has been one of the most malleable pieces of music ever written. SOPHIA DEBOICK traces its varied history back to its year of creation As MPs passed through the division lobbies for the Article 50 bill vote in February […]

The Liberal Democrats’ anti-Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake MP urges Remainers to join the March for Change and tell the new prime minister to put a halt to the Brexit mess. When we think of great moments of political upheaval, social change and protests for justice, the images which often come to mind are marches. There […]

If you’re making excuses for someone on your team you wouldn’t make for someone on theirs, you’re part of the problem says MITCH BENN. Let’s get one thing straight before we start; I don’t know what was going on in Carrie Symonds’ flat in Camberwell the other night, and neither do you. Nor indeed do […]

What optimism there is for the Remain cause is now tied to the fate of the Liberal Democrats – and to see it through, they need to make a genuine appeal to the Left. Recent polls show that the Lib Dems have achieved twice in a month what they couldn’t do for over a decade […]

One reader thinks he has the answer to solving Brexit – and it involves David Cameron. All Boris Johnson has to do to get us out of this Brexit mess is ask the EU to go back to David Cameron’s deal. That took the UK out of ever-closer union, and reinforced our ability to limit […]

Alarm bells are ringing for Donald Trump in Florida, says Bonnie Greer. The moment that I turned my face to the wall as the count rolled in on election night 2016 was when Florida was called. Florida was the defining moment, the signal in the noise that told us all who would become the next […]

While everyone is preoccupied with the Tory leadership election, there is a quieter but extremely consequential contest about to take place. While everyone is preoccupied with the Tory leadership election, the outcome of which is basically already known, there is a quieter but extremely consequential contest about to take place – the Brecon and Radnorshire […]

The favourite to be our next prime minister has links to a motley crew of chancers, losers and far-right agitators, says JAMES BALL The overwhelming favourite to be the UK’s prime minister by the end of July is a political Janus, presented by his supporters as two entirely different characters depending upon who they’re talking […]

The government has cleared itself of any wrongdoing in the #deniedmyvote saga – but this deeply insufficient response threatens our democracy. Large numbers of EU citizens were prevented from voting in the UK’s European parliament elections. In many cases, the problem arose out of a little-known registration requirement: EU citizens, unlike their British friends, have […]

MITCH BENN on watching a video by the campaign supporting Boris Johnson’s (currently swaggering) effort to become leader of the Tory party and prime minister. British Conservative Party politician Boris Johnson gives a speech. Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP – Credit: AFP/Getty Images I find myself in a philosophical frame of mind, so here […]

Rory Stewart’s deception wasn’t whether or not he was a spy, it was where he stood on Brexit. Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Sajid Javid and Rory Stewart during the BBC TV debate. Photograph: BBC/PA. – Credit: PA Judging by some of the comments on right-wing news site, or Twitter – you’d be forgiven […]

BONNIE GREER thinks it’s time to talk about corn and to understand its significance in that polyglot known as the United States. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall with US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania at Winfield House. Photo: Chris Jackson/PA Wire – Credit: PA It is now time to […]

The issue here isn’t drug use – it’s hypocrisy, says Mitch Benn. And they’re off. The hitherto ever-expanding field of candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party (and thereby the prime ministership of the country) has contracted somewhat, as they clear the first hurdle, and we’re now left with the ten ‘serious’ contenders. Perhaps […]

Three years after reminding us of his legacy as a liberal and unifying Conservative, 2019 Boris Johnson is relying on his hard-right influences. The last Conservative leadership contest feels like it was a lot longer than three years ago. In that race, one of the favoured candidates for the top post gave a speech speaking […]

Why knowing about these two African American women is key to understanding how the Democrats intend to defeat Donald. Symone Sanders, who joined Joe Biden’s campaign as a senior adviser earlier this year. Picture: JP Yim/Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images for Girlboss Rally The sight of two white male septuagenarians, Joe Biden and Bernie […]

BEN PUMMELL from campaign group Our Future, Our Choice argues that a no-deal Brexit would widen the north-south divide at a time when the north is demanding greater self-determination. This week, frustrations across the north of England have reached a critical level. Alongside major political and business leaders, more than 30 local and regional newspapers […]

MITCH BENN on Rory Stewart, why good guys can be bad and what sci-fi can teach us about politics. We seem to have arrived at one of those awkward lulls, don’t we; not much is actually happening Brexit-wise but it’s still difficult to talk, think or indeed write about anything else. The big story politically […]

Readers react to Boris Johnson’s attempt to avoid accountability for false claims made during the EU referendum campaign. What astounds me about Boris Johnson’s court summons over accusations of misconduct while in public office is that his defence appears to be “I was campaigning”. For any chance to reconcile division in our society and restore […]

It is simply untrue for Brexiteers to claim that under a no-deal Brexit the UK could simply move to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and there would be nothing to fear. Putting aside the major economic damage, the UK will be unable to have frictionless, tariff-free trade under WTO rules for up to seven years […]

Readers have their say on People’s Vote campaigner Alastair Campbell being expelled from the Labour Party. I can’t understand why your editor-at-large is applying to rejoin Labour (TNE #146). The party he feels emotionally close to is dead, Corbyn’s leadership has killed it. Even if they were forced to support to a new referendum, the […]