Politics

There is a saying, variously attributed either to Euripides or Shakespeare, that is something along the lines of ‘the sins of the father will be visited upon the children.’ By anyone’s reckoning, this is deeply unfair and wholly undeserved, but the treatment of Prince Andrew’s children, the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, will soon bear out the dread-laden maxim. Virtually all the international attention has so far come upon their parents, the Andrew formerly known as Prince and the unduchessed Sarah Ferguson. But now, with the inevitability of good hangings preventing bad marriages, interest is going to alight upon them. A pile-on towards these young women is coming, and it will

Today is the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. In spite of its longevity, the Convention faces a number of challenges, and this is perhaps not the happiest of birthdays. In the UK the Convention faces a significant challenge. For the first time, both the Conservatives and Reform will enter the next general election pledging to withdraw from it The development of the ECHR was, in part, a response to the aftermath of the second world war and the serious violations of human rights which occurred during the conflict. Much is made by its supporters of the fact that British lawyers, such as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe

The national Covid-19 inquiry rumbles slowly onwards. Module 8, examining the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, drew to a close last month. Blast-from-the-past appearances from Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson meant the decision to shut schools and stop exams from going ahead for the best part of two years was subjected to scrutiny and buck-passing in equal measure. Since lockdown ended, concern has, rightly, been raised about so-called ‘ghost children’, who continue to be persistently absent from school rolls. Far less attention has been paid to the gaps in the education of those pupils who did turn up when schools reopened. Perhaps understandably, no one wants

The royal family hasn’t been able to stay away from the spotlight lately, as scrutiny over Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s links to US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein have dominated the news. Last week, Andrew was formally stripped of his titles by King Charles and the royal will vacate his Royal Lodge mansion after it emerged he had been paying a ‘peppercorn’ rent for two decades. Now President Donald Trump has waded in, saying he feels ‘badly’ for the royals. Speaking to journalists on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump was quizzed on the King’s decision to remove Andrew’s titles. The US President remarked: It’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the [royal]

First, the power went out in the bar. A few minutes later came the familiar low, concussive thud of an explosion nearby, the kind that makes the walls tremble and the glasses rattle on the shelves. Somewhere close, a few streets perhaps, a Russian drone had found its mark. Almost as quick as it came, the sound dissipates, leaving an ambivalent quietness in its wake. Inside, the waitress lights candles, which flicker as if battling to keep darkness at bay. From a phone sitting on the bar, she plays music, the sound, tinny and weak, fighting to drown out the silence. Outside, buses speed along the street, clamorous beacons of