All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Sir Keir Starmer’s government looks ready to smile upon the British Museum’s apparent desire to by-pass the legal prohibition of the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens by negotiating a ‘long-term loan’ instead. Since Greece believes that the Marbles were stolen, that ‘loan’ is bound to be permanent. The first hint of this
Japan is running out of rice. Stocks have fallen to their lowest levels in decades, prompting fears that emergency reserves may need to be accessed. Prices have hit a 30-year high as private companies held just 1.56 million tons in June, the lowest level since 1999 and 20 per cent less than the previous year.
Radical preacher Anjem Choudary – the Bexley-born godfather of homegrown Islamist terrorism in modern Britain – has finally been imprisoned for life. Found guilty of directing the banned group al-Muhajiroun after an international investigation involving Scotland Yard, the MI5, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Canadian police, Choudary was given a minimum term of 28 years
On 16 May, 1944, as the first full trainloads of Hungarian Jews trundled towards Auschwitz, the SS decided to clear out the area known as the ‘Gypsy family camp’ to make room for the new arrivals. The family camp housed several thousand Roma and Sinti (Roma with German roots) people. Like the Jews, they were
Last week, the new head of the Army, General Sir Roly Walker, warned that war may be much closer than we think. Is our military ready? Two years ago, a syndicate of young officers published an article on the extreme shortage of division and brigade-level training in the British Army. Since then, the amount of larger-scale training
As if the French hadn’t enough on their plates, with turbulent elections and an underwhelming Euros performance, they’ve now had to contend with the prospect of terrorism blighting the Olympic Games. At least one major terror plot has been foiled by the French authorities, and pro-Islamic State channels are issuing threats to stadiums and fans. The main
It has been a weekend of riots. They began on Friday night in Sunderland, and were repeated in Bristol, Stoke, Hull, Belfast, Leeds, Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool on Saturday. People threw bricks and bottles at the police, who put up their shields and wielded batons in response. In Hull, a Greggs and a Specsavers were
Following the killings of Hezbollah’s Fuad Shukr and Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh, Israel and the Middle East are poised and waiting for the next move. The two killings represent a significant humiliation for the Iran-led regional axis, which until this point had been projecting a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Is Israel prepared to up the
Just a month into the Labour ascendancy and its first major political crisis has already taken shape. It is not the looming tax-raising Budget Rachel Reeves is preparing in contravention of assurances made during the election campaign about her party’s plans being fully funded. It is instead something much more visceral and basic: a breakdown
Merseyside police were very keen to rule out the Southport attack as ‘terrorism-related’. This was despite subsequent remarks from the Home Office that counter-terrorism police were still assisting the investigation. That muddled explanation will fall on deaf ears. Whether this turns out to be an act encompassed within the dry legalistic definition of terrorism, the
Although Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government has been in office less than a month, similarities between this year’s election and Tony Blair’s 1997 victory end with the size of Starmer’s House of Commons majority – just 13 seats shy of Blair’s in 1997. Just four days into Blair’s government, Gordon Brown stunned the country with
The Tories are about to choose a leader once more, and this time cannot allow themselves any self-indulgence. In 2022, they sidelined Kemi Badenoch – far and away the most popular candidate with the party-membership – in favour of a choice between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Tory MPs resembled a football manager ‘fielding the
Anjem Choudary thrived on the oxygen of publicity and in the end could not stand being starved of it. He could have retired quietly after serving a five-year sentence for encouraging support for Isis, but as soon as his licence conditions expired, he was courting controversy again. He put out press releases on WhatsApp and Telegram
Today’s stock market plunge is interesting for two main reasons. First, for those of us who have never traded on the Japanese stock exchange, comes the revelation that the colours used to denote changes in stock prices are the inverse of those used on western markets: red means a share has gone up, green means
Robert Jenrick chose a swelteringly hot day in sunny Newark to stage his official leadership campaign launch. ‘I’m in politics for you,’ he told the packed-out room, filled with a mixed crowd of young families and veteran Tory supporters. ‘We can persuade young people to join the Conservatives again,’ the 42-year-old insisted. ‘We must be
24 min listen
Police are bracing themselves for more violent disorder this weekend. This is in the aftermath of the tragic stabbings in Southport and unrest in London, Hartlepool and Southport. Keir Starmer made a statement yesterday condemning the protests and the involvement of far right actors for stoking up the violence and spreading disinformation online. Is there
Yesterday’s exchange of prisoners at Ankara airport in Turkey will have been personally ordered by President Putin. He is a veteran of the Cheka, the Soviet secret police agency, and no doubt aware of the role that swapping agents with the West has played in the troubled history of superpower rivalry. Putin knows that Russian
26 min listen
In the short time since Joe Biden has stepped aside for Kamala Harris’s candidacy, the Democratic party has totally switched on the gears for ‘Kamalamania’. On this episode, Freddy Gray talks to Kate Andrews about the disingenuousness of the hype, how social media drives it (and in particular, TikTok), and whether the enthusiasm for Kamala
13 min listen
Kemi Badenoch is the favourite in the Tory leadership race at the moment, which is partly why she’s been subject to a fair amount of scrutiny and some mud-slinging this week. But could Robert Jenrick actually overtake her as the frontrunner on the right of the Conservative party? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and
Nigel Farage was elected as MP for Clacton by a solid margin of 8,405. Four other Reform UK candidates were returned, and the party won 4.1 million votes. This surely was the beginning of a great change, the breaking of the mould of right-wing electoral politics. Farage spoke excitedly of creating a ‘bridgehead in parliament’
To West Sussex, where spectators are enjoying the sun at the Goodwood Racecourse. But it hasn’t necessarily been the most pleasant experience for everyone – least of all a former prime minister who seems unable to reap the benefits of her short-lived stint in office… ITV was quizzing excited race-goers about the day and the
Back to Scotland, where the third official candidate in the Scottish Tory leadership contest has been announced. Meghan Gallacher, the current deputy of the party, has entered the race following weeks of speculation about whether she would stand. Calling for a party ‘reset’, Gallacher insists she wants to build a ‘modern, centre right party’ focusing
Is there any point in rehabilitating prisoners sentenced to ‘whole life’ tariffs, who will die in custody? Today’s announcement banning such prisoners from a fundamental human right – to get married – would suggest the state thinks there isn’t. This act, contained in an innocuous statutory instrument is a rare example of retribution in action. We don’t
I can well understand that joy and relief experienced by the supporters and families of the hostages released yesterday by Vladimir Putin. For I myself owe my life to a Cold War spy swap. In October 1969, the British government exchanged Peter and Helen Kroger, two senior Soviet career spies nabbed for running a very
In the last years of Louis XVI’s reign, French finances were in a parlous state. State debt had ballooned, its servicing became exorbitant, and France’s creditworthiness sunk. The need to raise taxes after years of profligacy forced the monarch to summon the Estates General – the first time since 1614 – to obtain their approval.
It goes without saying that the riots in Southport, Hartlepool and London are a mindless reaction to the killing of three girls, based on false information which, according to former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, may have been propagated from Russia in a deliberate attempt to stir up social unrest in Britain. But is Sir
The hugely controversial Olympic boxing bout between Italian Angela Carini and her opponent Imane Khelif from Algeria lasted just 46 seconds. After taking two punches from Khelif to the chin, Carini was forced to quit, saying she had done so ‘to save my life’. She said she had ‘never felt punches like it’, after sustaining
When Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Southport on Tuesday to pay his respects for the victims of the stabbing tragedy, he was heckled by locals. ‘How many more children are going to die in our streets, Prime Minister?’ called one distraught resident, as another cried: ‘Get the truth out!’ Just hours after the PM left,
12 min listen
Today the Bank of England has cut rates for the first time in four years, bringing more good economic news to the Labour government. On the episode, Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about how this raises the question – again – of why Rishi Sunak called an election before he could
As Kate Andrews argues here, the Bank of England were never going to cut interest rates during an election campaign for fear of being accused of favouring one side or the other. That ruled out a rate cut in June, while in July there was no meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee. But are those five
The Kremlin has released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former marine Paul Whelan and British-Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza from captivity. This is the biggest prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. The three men form part of a group of prisoners released this morning, reportedly numbering as many as 16.
To the Olympics, where a rather contentious boxing match has come to an abrupt end. The sport came under the spotlight after it emerged that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif had been allowed to compete in the women’s boxing category in 2024 Paris Olympics despite, um, being thrown out of the women’s world championships after failing
Just days after junior doctors in England were offered a cumulative pay rise of 22 per cent, general practitioners across the country have voted in favour of industrial action over funding. Now over 98 per cent of senior unionised GPs have voted to take industrial action, on a turnout of just under 70 per cent.