United Kingdom

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 […]

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 […]

A former government chief commercial officer who became an adviser to Greensill Capital while still working as a civil servant has insisted there was no conflict of interest, amid questions over the firm’s lobbying. Bill Crothers told MPs on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) that his intention was to follow the rules […]

A key British cultural organisation is not being abandoned by the UK government, a minister has insisted, amid concerns over possible outpost closures. Conservative MP John Baron used a Commons urgent question to warn a £10 million shortfall has left the British Council facing the prospect of shutting some of its international network. The Basildon […]

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

The government has no plans to give MPs a vote on its decision to cut the overseas aid budget by £4 billion, Downing Street has said. Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said MPs should be given an “effective” say over the move to suspend the commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on aid […]

Northern England and the West Midlands will lose MPs under a planned shake-up of Westminster constituencies, with cabinet ministers set to be hit by the changes. The proposals, aimed at ensuring seats with broadly similar numbers of voters, will see England gain 10 additional seats overall, but the bulk of those will be in the […]

The EU has been “slow to engage” with discussions over how to solve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol, environment secretary George Eustice has complained. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There are lots of ways to give the European Union the assurance that they say they want for their single market, and what […]

A new £800 million research agency – which was originally described as Dominic Cummings’ ‘pet project’ – risks being a “side door to sleaze in science”, the opposition has warned. Ministers want the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) to focus on “high-risk, high-reward” research to explore new ideas while having “strategic and cultural” independence and […]

The European Union’s patience with Britain over Brexit is “wearing thin” and the bloc is considering its options if Number 10 continues on a “confrontational path”, an official has claimed. The European Commission and British government are set to enter talks over the Brexit agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol on Wednesday. The EU has […]

A history of the radical, revolutionary, rowdy roots of the newspaper industry make for a rip-roaring read “We are afsured from good authority that the First Consul of France – has been swallowed by a Whale!” Give or take the odd “f” instead of “s”, this could have come on the Sunday Sport archive, next to […]

Boris Johnson is reportedly unlikely to highlight the strength of the “special relationship” with American president Joe Biden because the prime minister does not like the expression. Downing Street said Johnson “prefers not to use the phrase” but is instead intent on fostering a “close relationship” with Washington. A profile of the prime minister in […]

The Green Party will no longer fight the Batley and Spen by-election after it dropped support for its candidate who made a series of “highly offensive” homophobic tweets as a teenager. Ross Peltier, 29, a prop forward with Doncaster Dons and a Jamaica international, apologised for the “terrible” language used in the tweets and said […]

Boris Johnson has been spared an immediate Tory revolt over cuts to Britain’s overseas aid budget after a Commons move to reverse the decision was ruled out of order by the speaker. Lindsay Hoyle ruled the proposed change to the Bill setting up the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) – which would have forced […]