United Kingdom

Michael Gove has described international trade secretary Liz Truss as a “tough” and “shrewd” negotiator who will be looking to deliver “what’s best for Britain” with post-Brexit deals with other countries. The former environment secretary was said to have been at loggerheads with Truss over a trade deal with Australia, fearing the impact it could have […]

Farmers in Kent and Fife say their soft fruit crops may go unpicked because of a lack of seasonal workers from the EU post-Brexit It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain – not only in Cornwall, where a just-married couple’s party was ruined when the guests complained about the […]

The UK may have set a precedent with Australia which could create “negotiating difficulties” for future trade agreements, an expert has said.

Prime minister Boris Johnson is to unveil details of the UK’s first trade deal negotiated from scratch post-Brexit. He will welcome his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, to Downing Street on Tuesday after the two countries agreed on the broad terms of the pact. The deal is reported to have been sealed by the two premiers […]

A marketing invention of the publishing industry or a genuine opportunity to broaden horizons? CHARLIE CONNELLY on the phenomenon of beach books Now that the sun’s been out for longer than 20 minutes it won’t be long before we’re bombarded with recommendations for this year’s holiday reading. As ever these will take two forms: a […]

Priti Patel has said she does not support England’s footballers taking the knee in protest against racial injustice, labelling the act “gesture politics”. The home secretary did not condemn football fans who had booed players for taking the knee, calling it a “choice for them” after Gareth Southgate’s side faced jeers from a minority of […]

A Tory MP will make a public apology in the House of Commons for bullying parliamentary committee staff as he struggled with IT issues. Daniel Kawczynski acted in a “threatening and intimidating manner” towards the complainants after he was unable to join a committee hearing due to technical problems. A disciplinary report said the Shrewsbury […]

Boris Johnson is facing legal action over his award of a peerage to a wealthy Tory backer against the advice of the official House of Lords watchdog. Electoral Commission records show Peter Cruddas, a former Conservative Party treasurer, gave the Tories a further £500,000 just three days after taking up his seat in the upper […]

US president Joe Biden urged Boris Johnson to ensure the Northern Ireland peace process is protected in his bitter row with Brussels over post-Brexit trading arrangements, the White House has disclosed. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden – who has spoken of his pride in his Irish roots – had held a “candid discussion” […]

WILL SELF on a painstakingly assembled scale model of a long-gone Teesside neighbourhood Top hats and cloth caps off for Steve Waller, who has spent the past nine years working fulltime on a scale model of the historic St Hilda’s neighbourhood of Middlesbrough. Waller, 61, began working on the model after he slipped a disc […]

The story of two places, and two women, linked by fate and separated by a body of water. Calais has always had a special place in British culture. We owned it from 1347 until 1558 after all, even if now it’s mainly known for booze cruises, Channel swims and the first trip abroad for so […]

PETER TRUDGILL on the language of the Isle of Man, and its rearguard action against the linguistic homogenisation of the British Isles If you have ever been to Ellan Vannin – the Isle of Man – you will know that from the shores of that beautiful island it is possible to see Ireland, Scotland, England and, […]

Almost five years on from the fateful vote, historian JAMES HAWES explains why the decision to leave the EU was the result of a Tory civil war – triggered by John Major’s 1992 victory – for eternal control of southern England Karl Marx believed that history was all about a succession of class struggles. He was, […]

The Sun's days could be numbered, writes LIZ GERARD.

Twenty five years after a massive IRA bomb destroyed the centre of Manchester, LUKE BAINBRIDGE reports on how the city was reborn from the rubble Dennis Walker was the first black player to play for Manchester United, back in 1963. After retiring from football, the fluent Farsi and Arabic speaker became operations manager at the Arndale […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY looks back at one of the most improbable games of football’s long history, when a team of Durham miners took on a side of Eton schoolboys In the aftermath of the tawdry European Super League saga I found myself rummaging online for reassurance that football was once the game of the people. On […]

David Baddiel has accused Boris Johnson of playing a “culture war game” as the comedian urged football fans to support the England team in taking the knee during the Euros. Downing Street has not backed the players’ decision to adopt the anti-racism gesture, instead only issuing a statement urging fans to be “respectful” and saying […]

Few people have seen their reputations enhanced by Brexit. But one who has is the artist Cold War Steve, who has chronicled the UK’s exit from the EU in all its misery. Here, New European cover artist CHRIS BARKER gives his own appreciation

MPs are calling on home secretary Priti Patel to urgently publish an independent assessment of the impact of ending free movement. The government had committed to publishing documentation around the post-Brexit measures to end the freedom for EU citizens to travel freely to and from the UK at the end of last year. Home Office […]

Brexit has caused a “massive hole” in the numbers of people coming to the UK to pick fruit in the summer months putting growers “on the brink”, it is claimed. Numbers of seasonal workers applying to work at one Kent-based company are down 90% in the last two years and there are fears for the […]

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 […]

Tim Walker gives three stars to Walden at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London until June 12 To say that Stella and Cassie are sisters who have grown apart is an under-statement. Cassie (Lydia Wilson) is a celebrated astronaut who’s just returned from a year on the moon. Stella (Gemma Arterton) has, in the meantime, […]

The government will “stand up for the British sausage and no-one will ever be able to destroy it”, a minister has insisted, amid the latest Brexit spat between the UK and EU. Conservative frontbencher Ranil Jayawardena made the pledge amid a row between the EU and the UK over the meat product. Brussels has threatened to […]

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

Matt Hancock has denied lying to Boris Johnson at any point during the pandemic, telling MPs he has always been driven by an approach of “honesty and integrity”. The health secretary was questioned over allegations made by the prime minister’s former aide Dominic Cummings to the Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology […]

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary tells JOHN KAMPFNER, in characteristically forthright style, just what he thinks of the government’s Covid travel rules, the ‘hijacking’ of his aircraft by Belarus and the future of aviation The UK’s travel rules are in chaos. The European Union is starting to open up, but not to Brits. Is ‘delta’, the Indian variant, […]

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 […]

Boris Johnson has claimed “lefty propaganda” is behind attacks on his foreign aid plans – despite senior Conservative MPs leading the opposition to his £4 billion spending cut. The prime minister was accused by the SNP of being “on the run” from not only his “moral and legal responsibilities” but also his own backbench MPs. […]

A new exhibition of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood serves as a useful opportunity to focus on its female associates, be they muses, mistresses or much more When Stephanie Marrian became the first Page Three girl in the Sun newspaper in 1970 it is possible she was channelling the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Or maybe not. But she was undoubtedly, to use the […]

The High Court has ruled Michael Gove’s awarding of a coronavirus contract to a market research company whose owners were friends of Dominic Cummings was unlawful. Campaigners had taken legal action against the Cabinet Office minister over the decision to pay more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money to market research firm Public First, following the […]

Britain has threatened a “sausage war” as Brexit minister David Frost called for “flexibility” from the EU” ahead of a ban on the export of chilled meat products from the British mainland. Reports suggest that the UK government is ready to unilaterally extend the “grace period” for products like sausages, mince and chicken nuggets at […]

Joe Biden will begin his first overseas trip as US president when he touches down in Britain ahead of a G7 Summit with an emphasis on coronavirus vaccines. The Democrat and wife Jill are expected to land on Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk on Wednesday to kick off an eight-day trip to […]