United Kingdom

Readers praise the former House of Commons speaker's column for The New European.

TIM WALKER remembers a meeting with a particularly pensive Rowan Atkinson I met Rowan Atkinson on an autumn day in 1988 that, he informed me, was the 10th anniversary of the start of his career in show business. Up until that point, his credits included the ground-breaking satirical television series Not the Nine 0’Cock News, Blackadder and its […]

Boris Johnson did not miss emergency meetings on the response to the emerging coronavirus pandemic because he was working on a book, Downing Street has insisted. The prime minister’s official spokesman said he was “not aware” of Johnson doing any work on a biography of William Shakespeare while in office. Johnson did not chair the […]

MPs are set to examine the effectiveness of the Electoral Commission at the time of the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums.  The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) will be hearing from senior officials of both campaigns on the Commission’s role of enforcing compliance with rules governing spending and donations during both votes. The meeting on Tuesday comes […]

The FA Cup holds an almost mystical appeal in south-east Asia. Now a Thai family have rewritten its history, as well as the destiny of unfashionable Leicester City If you ever spent time in South East Asia in the month of May you would know that there was one match that had almost mystical appeal. […]

An alliance of councillors could form to take control of Durham County Council off Labour for the first time in more than 100 years, it has emerged. Independents, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are holding meetings to discuss how they would share power in what was once a stronghold of the Labour party. Labour has 53 […]

Keir Starmer is under pressure from within his own party to make electoral reform a manifesto commitment following four consecutive general election losses and the recent local election setbacks. The pressure comes after a recent Best for Britain poll had shown at least half of its respondents backed electoral reform to make the number of elected representatives […]

Liz Truss has called on the EU to scrap “border control and paperwork” on Irish Sea trade, setting up a clash with Brussels over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Asked if the government’s aim is to remove all red tape – despite those checks being agreed by Boris Johnson in his Brexit deal – the trade […]

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said the BBC must project “British values” or face losing its licence fee. Dowden also accused the BBC of adopting a “we know best” attitude following the scandal surrounding its Panorama interview with Princess Diana. In his first detailed response since the report from Lord Dyson was released, Dowden said […]

Home secretary Priti Patel is vowing wholesale reform of the UK’s “broken” immigration system as she unveils plans for a “fully digital border” within five years. Patel is set to promise to deliver a system that works for the “law-abiding majority” and against those who seek to “abuse our hospitality and generous spirit”. She will […]

Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds are to “celebrate their wedding” in summer next year, it has been reported. The couple have sent save-the-date cards to family and friends for an event on Saturday, July 30 2022, according to the Sun. The paper said details of where they will marry remained a secret. Downing Street […]

The challenge of funding and providing social care is not unique to the UK. So what can we learn from other countries?

Why did Britain fall out of love with speedway, and how did Poland take over as the sport’s new spiritual home? Not so long ago, the start of the British speedway season would have been big news. That wasn’t the case this week, when the first of this year’s Covid-delayed league fixtures took place. Speedway was, at one […]

Keir Starmer should reinstate Jeremy Corbyn as a parliamentary Labour MP, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said. Former Labour leader Corbyn had the party whip withdrawn in October following his response to an Equality and Human Rights Commission report into anti-Semitism in the party. But McDonnell said allowing him back into the Parliamentary Labour […]

Keir Starmer has spoken for the first time about the tragedy of losing his mother before she was able to see him become an MP. Speaking to Piers Morgan for an upcoming episode of ITV’s Life Stories programme, the Labour leader revealed the pain of watching his mother Jo’s health deteriorate as he closed in […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has denied a claim by Dominic Cummings that the government’s original response to the coronavirus outbreak was to pursue a strategy of “herd immunity”. In a series of explosive tweets, the prime minister’s former top adviser said the policy – to build up resistance in the population by allowing some spread […]

The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox has been chosen by Labour to fight the Batley and Spen by-election. Following a meeting of the local constituency Labour Party, Kim Leadbeater said she was “overwhelmed and humbled” by the support she had received from party members in the seat her sister used to represent. Her selection […]

Restrictions might be easing and art galleries opening their doors again, but are virtual visits now here to stay?  So here I am in the National Gallery relishing the pulsating drama of Rembrandt’s Belshazzar’s Feast. By my side, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, director of the gallery, no less, is enthusing about the “huge emotional punch” of the painting which […]

Transport for London has retired its fleet of classic Routemaster buses, which has been running on the number 15 route, the capital’s last running heritage service. So, farewell then to the Routemaster bus – and while I fully appreciate that those of my readers who live elsewhere than the corporate death star formerly known as […]

From his royal faux pas to his fury over the Queen’s Speech, our editor-at-large Alastair Campbell on his week as a guest host on Good Morning Britain The first thing ITV sent me, shortly after I agreed to guest present Good Morning Britain last week, was the Ofcom list of words you’re not allowed to […]

The government will look at whether reforms of BBC governance are required in the wake of Lord Dyson’s “damning” report on the 1995 Panorama Diana interview, ministers have said. Lord Dyson’s findings that the broadcaster covered up the “deceitful behaviour” of journalist Martin Bashir in the handling of his interview with Diana, Princess of Wales […]

‘Really weird and properly frightening’. That was the tone of the horror film script Mark E Smith, iconoclast leader of The Fall, set out to write in 2007. Fourteen years later, The Otherwise is finally being published Friday February 16th 2007. I’m waiting in the reception at the BBC building on Oxford Road Manchester. I’m […]

A zero tariff, zero quota trade deal between the UK and Australia would damage Northern Ireland’s beef and sheep trade, the new DUP leader has warned. Edwin Poots said the prospect of such an agreement posed a “high level of risk” to farmers across the UK. Poots outlined his concerns in a letter to UK […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has released a video in which he is standing in front of an existing hospital and calls it “one of 40 new hospitals we’re going to build” VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OF PHYSICS OF THE WEEK A few days ago, health secretary Matt Hancock released a video in which he is […]

Chris West, an historian of the contest, chronicles its greatest ever controversies After a year’s hiatus caused by the pandemic the Eurovision Song Contest returns this week, in Rotterdam. As ever, the event has been accompanied by a palaver about some of the entries. The main focus this year has been on Belarus, which has form for doing […]

UK ministers have a “shocking” lack of knowledge about the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland following Brexit, MPs have heard. The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee joined together with the Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh affairs committees to hear evidence on the Government’s union capability. Appearing as witnesses were Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove […]

Former Commons speaker John Bercow on his anger at the government’s warped priorities and the Voter ID plan which proposes "a solution to a problem that does not exist"

Downing Street has denied that NHS Test and Trace delays in alerting local authorities in hotspot areas to positive cases helped contribute to the spread of the Indian variant. It follows a report by the BBC that for three weeks in April and May, eight local authorities in England – including Blackburn with Darwen – […]

Nearly five years since the Brexit vote it's proving to be far from the success the ringleaders promised

The creation of a new public sector body to oversee Britain’s railways will simplify a system that is “too complicated”, transport secretary Grant Shapps has claimed. Great British Railways (GBR) will own and manage rail infrastructure, issue contracts to private firms to run trains, set most fares and timetables, and sell tickets. It will absorb […]

TIM WALKER on Rishi Sunak’s latest spending, and why the theatrical Fox dynasty is a broad church when it comes to politics Although he scarcely faces much competition, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, prides himself on being the most ‘gym fit’ member of the cabinet. The lockdowns have meant he couldn’t attend any of the Digme gyms […]

It’s time for Labour to look for funding from those that share its internationalist social liberal values. I thoroughly agree with the views expressed by Alastair Campbell in his open letter to Keir Starmer. However, I would like to draw attention also to the important trends set out by Peter Keller in his excellent analysis. […]