Christmas

In the Year of Three UK Prime Ministers, there were more villains than heroes. We remember some of the most memorable

Jesus and his disciples would have spoken a Galilean dialect of Aramaic, the language of the area at the time

After three years of renovation, Piero della Francesca’s masterpiece is back on show at the National Gallery in time for Christmas

From Poland to Italy, a guide to the continent's most bizarre ways to celebrate the festive season

We have to go far north, to the lands most closely identified with snowy festiveness, to find nations truly invested in Christmas music and embracing songs in their own language

Even for atheists, some of what he preaches is worth considering as secular moral philosophy

How did an obscure British comedy sketch become a New Year tradition for Germans?

Sint-Nicolaas will be visiting children in the Netherlands as usual this year – but Zwarte Piet won’t be going with him

From Westminster and European parliament to film and TV, test your knowledge with our fiendishly tricky quiz of the year

Christmas markets defy the logic of “seen one, seen them all”. They just have one thing in common: the magic of the festive season

A Storm for Christmas fails to deliver more than the usual festive tropes… but perhaps it doesn’t need to

A government-funded body has launched an internal investigation after one of its employees spent thousands of pounds on high-end chocolates a few days before Christmas. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a probe into a potential breach of its finance policies after Business Insider made it aware that £6,248.40 had been spent on a corporate […]

A fisheries minister has admitted not reading the post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels when it was agreed because she was busy organising a Nativity trail. Victoria Prentis faced calls for her to quit after the comments, but the prime minister is standing by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) minister. Asked if her […]

Boris Johnson has used a festive message to the nation to urge people to read the new Brexit trade deal after Christmas lunch. The prime minister posted a video on Twitter in which he brandished the document, which has not been released in full yet, and at one point punched the air with enthusiasm at […]

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has raised the prospect of officials working on the text of a Brexit deal on Christmas Day if a breakthrough comes before then. Martin said he and other EU leaders were on “stand-by” to endorse any agreement that might emerge from negotiations between Brussels and the UK government. “If you had a […]

Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick insisted there will be no further changes to the Christmas plans despite speculation that more areas of England could be moved into a Tier 4 lockdown. The communities secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the Covid operations committee will examine “what more we know now about the new variant” […]

A loophole will allow Boris Johnson to meet with family over Christmas – despite the fact his official residence is in Downing Street in London – which is in Tier 4. The Financial Times reports the rule, which came into effect on December 2 and was updated on December 14, means Johnson and his partner […]

A BBC presenter has given a sobering assessment of the nation’s mood ahead of Christmas and a looming Brexit deadline in a minute-long clip. Ros Atkins captured the national sentiment in a cerebral monologue broadcasted on BBC World service. Soaking up news of the Dover port blockade, the uncontrolled spread of a new strain of Covid-19, […]

From politicians and professors to personal trainers, a number of figures unexpectedly became household names this year. Following a year like no other, the PA news agency looks at some of the headline makers of 2020. – Professor Chris Whitty England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has become a familiar face due to his […]

A rude song about Boris Johnson could bag the Number 1 slot in this year’s Christmas music chart, after peaking one place off in the downloads chart this week. Boris Johnson Is A F**king C**t was recorded by an Essex-based band with an equally sweary artist name – known as K**t and the Gang. The 56-second medley […]

A Brexiteer MP has come under heavy criticism for suggesting France was “holding the UK to ransom” after it closed its borders into Britain to contain a new strain of the coronavirus. ERG member Andrew Bridgen said France has been acting like “dictators” after it decided to close the Eurotunnel and ban flights from the UK […]

Nigel Farage has lashed out at a Chinese journalist after being called “Trump’s puppet” and a “big joke in Europe”.  Chen Weihua, who works for the Chinese state-controlled outlet China Daily, hit out at the Brexit Party leader after he blamed China for Christmas in the UK being cancelled. Farage’s message came shortly after Boris […]

Boris Johnson has cancelled Christmas for millions of people across London and south-east England after scientists said that a new coronavirus variant is spreading more rapidly – days after mocking Keir Starmer for wanting to “cancel Christmas”. The prime minister announced that from Sunday areas in the South East currently in Tier 3 will be […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has told MPs Tier 3 restrictions will be extended across a wide area of East and South East England. Which tier are you in? Find out below. Tier 3 No mixing indoors. People can only meet outdoors in limited places such as parks and public gardens. Pubs and restaurants must close, […]

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will press ahead with a relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas. Boris Johnson urged people to “exercise extreme caution” as they celebrate Christmas amid fears about the spread of coronavirus but up to three households will still be allowed to mix between December 23 and 27. Talks involving the UK government […]

Scientists have warned that the easing of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas will cause a spike in infections, as experts encourage Boris Johnson to follow German chancellor Angela Merkel’s lead by rethinking proposals for the holiday. Germany has announced a national lockdown that will close shops and schools until at least January 10 – with restrictions on social […]

MITCH BENN on the annual controversy over Fairytale of New York. One of my favourite things about the Christmas season is the way that new Yuletide traditions are always evolving and emerging to take their place alongside the more ‘time-honoured’ ones. A recent addition to the canon of Christmas customs is the online game Whamageddon; as […]

A grammar school in Kent will close for two days after Christmas over fears Brexit will cause debilitating traffic jams. Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) will instead teach pupils virtually between January 4 and January 5. The all boys secondary school is located a mile away from the M20 , which is expected to rammed with lorries […]

A joke about Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings has topped the list of the top Christmas cracker jokes in the UK. TV channel Gold’s eight annual rankings – chosen by a panel chaired by critic Bruce Dessau – saw 2,000 voters choose a gag about the Vote Leave mastermind. “What is Dominic Cummings’ favourite Christmas song? […]

So as I type this it’s the morning of December 1, and I’ve just done something I always do on this day each year; put my earphones in, hit up the Christmas songs playlist for the first time and hit ‘shuffle’. I think I’ve mentioned before that I operate a strict embargo system where Christmas […]

Robert Jenrick has admitted the government’s Christmas lockdown measures could “drive” a rise in Covid infection rates across England. The minister for communities and housing said he expected to see coronavirus rates increase after the Christmas break. Downing Street announced that “bubbles” of three households could meet indoors over a five-day period during Christmas in […]

Laurence Fox is at the centre of a Twitter storm after being scolded by The Pogues for remarks about the band’s hit Christmas song. The Pogues have called Fox a “little herrenvolk s***e” following a tweet he posted slamming the BBC Radio 1‘s decision to omit a derogative term from the group’s song Fairytale of New York.  Reacting […]