All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
In any deal, says the Sun, ‘no party should agree to the rules being set by the other side’. So the Prime Minister is ‘reassuringly spot on’ to insist we cut ‘direct ties with the European Court of Justice’. Whatever some might say, ‘make no mistake..’ the ECJ is no independent institution’, argues the paper
A key question in the Brexit talks is how any deal between the EU and UK will be upheld. The government has begun to address this today, publishing a paper on enforcement and dispute resolution. One thing is clear: ministers are committed to extricating the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice
Harare, Zimbabwe At a meeting in Harare in early August, Mr. Mugabe stated quite clearly, that the persons responsible for the murder of white Zimbabwean farmers during the land invasions would ‘never be prosecuted’. Tens of thousands of people who were members of Zapu and lived in the south west of the country were murdered,
A transitional period that offers businesses some time, and some certainty. A financial settlement including a one-off severance payment and possibly ongoing contributions for continuing programmes. A legal arrangement that concedes some sort of role to some sort of European court, and thus concedes that any substantive trade relationship with the EU will involve some
It’s safe to say that Chris Williamson is not the most popular MP in his party right now, after the Labour frontbencher suggested women-only carriages were a good idea – in order to stop women falling victim to sexual assault on public transport. Since then, several Labour MPs have criticised his comments – with Jess Phillips
It’s a story we’ve become used to hearing in recent years. How millennials are the sensible generation. They’ve turned their backs on alcohol and going out every single night. They smoke less than other age groups, and have fewer sexual partners. And here’s another string to add to their bow – it turns out that
Well, that lasted long. Since Jeremy Corbyn’s better-than-expected election result, Labour politicians have done their best to heal old wounds and put on a united front. However, in a sign that the party remains fractious, a row has broken out over an idea many MPs thought to be in the dustbin. During the Labour leadership campaign, Jeremy Corbyn proposed the idea
Happy GERS day everyone! For the uninitiated, the publication of the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland figures has become one of Scotland’s most-cherished annual political bunfights. It is a kind of Caledonian Festivus, during which certain rites must be observed. Some people enjoy the Festivus Miracles, others relish the Festivus Feats of Strength and magical
Ignore the usual bleating about Trump having ‘lost control’ and not being ‘fit’ for the presidency following his attention-grabbing speech in Arizona. Trump has never been fit for the presidency, if we accept that ‘fitness’ for high office means anything at all. His political career has never really been controlled by anything other than wild
There has been an unprecedented development this year in the Islamists’ war on the West. For the first time their foot soldiers are singling out women to kill. Women have been the victims of terrorism before, murdered by paramilitary organisations such as ETA, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the IRA, because of their uniform or their
Theresa May could not have been any clearer: the UK is leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice after Brexit. Here’s what she told the Tory party conference back in October: ‘Let’s state one thing loud and clear: we are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration all
If you have credit card balance on an existing account, you could save vast amounts of money by transferring that balance to another card. Here are this week’s selection of the best cards with a 0% introductory balance transfer rate. Data provided by Moneyfacts.
Guy Verhofstadt is a busy man. As well as his day job in the European parliament, Verhofstadt has the task of trying to thrash out a deal in his role as its chief Brexit negotiator. But that daunting task – and his dedication to the EU – isn’t stopping the Belgian politician from earning a small
Ever since the snap election, Jeremy Corbyn has been in campaign mode – claiming Theresa May’s minority government is on the verge of collapse and that there will be another election within months. Tomorrow, the Labour leader kicks off a summer tour of Scotland, which he claims ‘holds the keys’ to getting his party back
English country churches: everyone loves them, no one wants to actually pray in them. ‘People have a massive sentimental attachment to the buildings, but they don’t actually come to services,’ says my guest on this week’s Holy Smoke podcast, the Rev Ravi Holy. He’s a country vicar in Wye, Kent, where he regularly attracts 150 worshippers
Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader and occasional first minister of Scotland, has come to a jarring realisation. After 31 years as a member of the SNP and three as the party’s leader, she has announced that she is not comfortable with the name ‘Scottish National Party’. At the Edinburgh Festival, Sturgeon told Turkish novelist Elif Shafak: ‘If I
As if the issue of Catalonian secession wasn’t fraught enough, some of its most committed advocates are now arguing that the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils last week demonstrate the region’s readiness for independence. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, for his part, has suggested that the vehicle attacks that left 15 dead require regional differences to
The EU holds all the ‘trump cards’ in Brexit talks. Or at least that’s what some ‘Remainers’ would have you think, says the Sun in its editorial today. Don’t believe it, the paper insists, pointing out that the EU 27 ‘export a massive amount of goods to the UK’. In fact, as the government pointed
Since Britain voted to leave the EU, the decision has been met with derision and mockery by many foreign media outlets – with the New York Times concluding that ‘no Dunkirk spirit can save Britain from Brexit defeat’. However, are some EU members beginning to feel a pang of jealously over the UK’s decision to leave?
Emmanuel Macron may have the lowest approval ratings of any modern-era French president during their first 100 days – but here in Britain, the bromance is still going strong. Ever since Macron came to power, male politicians in the UK have been heaping praise on the centrist politician. So much so, that at times it has felt as if they are
Retiring to a warmer, more exotic, country is something that many of us dream of doing – and sooner, rather than later. One in ten people over the age of fifty are currently considering retiring abroad, with the main reasons being a better lifestyle, a cheaper way of life and of course, better weather than
There are plenty of theories about what led to the Brexit vote. Now, Al Gore, has a new one to add to the pile. The former vice president – who has been busy promoting his new film by labelling those who question him ’deniers’ – says the EU referendum result was brought about because of… climate change.
We will be hopelessly out-witted by wily Brussels negotiators. We are unprepared for the scale of the task. We are about to be humiliated as we discover just how weak our hand is against a unified European Union that is determined to punish us for our foolishness in leaving the world’s largest trading bloc. The
Theresa May says ‘a positive and constructive partnership’ with the EU after Brexit is the target. Beneath the jargon, the message to Brussels in the government’s latest position paper is simple: a trade deal is in your interests too. Ministers are at pains to point out that a messy Brexit won’t just do damage to
There’s eleven days left of August and for many the end of silly season can’t come soon enough. With the weekend papers filled with stories relating to plans to silence Big Ben for four years, today MPs descended on Parliament to hear Ben’s final bongs. Leading the charge was Labour’s Stephen Pound, who had promised
The core consumer price index of inflation held unexpectedly steady at 2.6 per cent in July, further removing any possibility of an interest-rate rise this year. So what’s the downside? My eye is drawn to a bulletin from Nationwide, the UK’s most sensible mortgage lender. It reports a fall in quarterly profits after a rise
Despite Taylor Swift’s aspiration that her sexual assault trial last week should stand as an example for all women, what’s been notable outside the courtroom is how little support from the sisterhood Swift’s had. When Swift’s pop contemporary Kesha faced her own sexual assault case last year – against music producer Dr Luke – female
‘It is vital for our future prosperity’, says the Sun, ‘that we cut a trade deal with Brussels’. David Davis was correct then, the paper argues, to ‘call on the EU to start trade talks running “parallel” with our exit talks’. ‘After all, how can we settle our bill until we know what we’ll get in return,’
Spain, Finland, Russia: in the space of a few days, Europe is reminded, yet again, that terrorism – like the virus it is – kills brutally, indiscriminately and, critically, transnationally. On Thursday, August 17, a van rammed into crowds of people in Barcelona’s Las Ramblas boulevard – a hub of tourism and social life. Thirteen were
This summer, MPs have had to grapple with one of the big issues of our time. No, not Brexit – the planned closure of Big Ben. With the Great Bell to be silenced for four years while renovation work takes place, some politicians have expressed upset at the plans. Jacob Rees-Mogg argues that it would be ‘symbolically uplifting’ for
Steve Bannon is out. H.R McMaster is in. It’s now starting to dawn upon some of Donald Trump’s most ardent admirers that they’ve been had. The main accomplishment of the Trump revolution has not been to forward populism. It has been to devour its own children. Trump entered office declaring that ‘this carnage ends now’. Not
Election day polling by Michael Ashcroft showed a Britain divided not so much by class or region as age. The 45-54 age group split almost evenly between the two main parties. Older voters went for the Conservatives; younger ones for Labour. Among 18-24 year olds, only 18 per cent voted Tory, while 67 per cent
The subtitle of Al Gore’s new film is ‘Truth to Power’, which is supposed to give the impression of brave old Al fighting for right against the mighty fossil fuel establishment. But it is somewhat ironic, given his response when the power being challenged is Gore himself. The former vice president was in London last
When a new MP is offered a job as a parliamentary private secretary for a cabinet member, it’s often a test to see if they really would do anything to get into government. It involves running errands, spying on colleagues, ferrying messages around the Commons and planting inane questions for backbenchers to ask in the