All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Childminder Lucy Connolly was caring for infants at her home in Northampton on July 29 last year when she heard on the news about the murder of three young girls in Southport. She was upset – like many people – and had seen – again, like many – rumours that an illegal immigrant was responsible.
There is no such thing as a ‘royal car’. Traditionally, the monarchy has been associated with various British manufacturers, such as Bentley, Rolls-Royce and (until their recent, breathtakingly misjudged advertising campaign, at least) Jaguar. But there is no equivalent of the Popemobile, brought out on every public occasion so that the King might be received
In a blast from the past, the UK’s onetime deputy prime minister Nick Clegg popped up again in London today to muse, 15 years on, about his party’s coalition with the Conservatives. But despite this being the purpose of his talk, it didn’t take the arch-Remainer long to get to the subject of the European
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Fallout continues from yesterday’s summit and the announcement of a deal between the UK and EU – or is it fair to call it ‘fallout’ as, despite criticism over the deal from Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, has the public got Brexit fatigue? James Heale and Michael Simmons join Patrick Gibbons to talk about the
Bruno Retailleau has done something nobody expected. He has made himself the most serious contender for the French presidency, not by campaigning, but by governing. In a government few thought would last, under a president widely seen as disengaged and more focused on foreign stages than domestic affairs, Retailleau has taken the hardest job in
Britain is back in the big time. Or at least it is according to Sir Keir Starmer, who was tickled pink with the ‘reset’ relationship agreed with the European Union on Monday. ‘It’s time to look forward,’ declared the Prime Minister, standing alongside the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. ‘We’re ready to work
One of the most depressing concepts in physics is entropy – the principle that all systems tend toward disorder and breakdown. That’s all I could think of while reading today’s headlines praising the so-called “reset” deal between the UK and the EU. I know the tricks of the EU’s trade – and “tricks” is the
David Gauke’s sentencing review, which will report this week, is going to be far bolder than anyone expected. Today it has been reported that the Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood has secured £700 million of funding from the Treasury to buy 30,000 more electronic ‘tags’ which will be used to curfew people at home, track their
Events have a useful way of illustrating changing fortunes in political stock. Keir Starmer’s EU reset yesterday proved to be one such occasion. The fishing deal, mobility scheme and legal obligations prompted predictable fury from the Tory press. But one voice dominated in the chorus of criticism: Boris Johnson. It was the former prime minister’s
Rachel Reeves is perhaps not a great fan of Donald Trump, but she should be grateful to him nonetheless, and Ed Miliband even more so. The trade war sparked by Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs is about to lower energy prices for UK consumers. According to a forecast by consultants Cornwall Insight, Ofgem’s price cap will
Last week, fires at two properties and a vehicle linked to Sir Keir Starmer were being probed by police – and now a second man has been charged in connection with the series of arson attacks on properties owned by the Prime Minister. It transpires that 26-year-old Stanislav Carpiuc, a Romanian national, has been charged
They think it’s all over … well, it is now. We’ve had false alarms about Gary Lineker leaving the BBC before, and several yellow cards have been flashed. But this time – following his reposting of a video about Israel featuring a rat emoji – the ref has finally blown the whistle and pulled out
With more than 650 councillors and a new MP to boot, Nigel Farage’s teal army is clearly on the up. But while Reform UK is always happy to call out others’ volte faces – including Starmer’s Brexit ‘betrayal’ – Farage’s party now appears to be U-turning on one of its own manifesto promises: voting reform. Reform’s ‘Contract with You’, published last July,
Greggs is a great British success story. The ever-popular bakery chain provides good-quality (if, admittedly, rarely healthy) treats for millions of satisfied Britons. Yet some depressing news has taken the joy out of visiting Greggs for a steak bake and an iced doughnut. The chain has become a Mecca for shoplifters, who refuse to pay
On Sunday, Bruno Retailleau was elected president of Les Republicains – France’s mainstream centre-right party. Just a few years ago, his election would have drawn significant attention across Europe, as the rise of a new leader within a major European political force. Today, however, Les Republicains are the shadow of their former selves: a diminished political party on the right fighting for survival. In the 2022 presidential election, the party suffered a catastrophic result, receiving just 4.78 per cent of the vote – an all-time low for the
As much of Westminster gets up in arms about fish, the major change in Starmer’s EU deal is going under the radar. The deal, announced yesterday, commits Britain and the EU to exploring Britain’s participation in Europe’s energy market. If we go forward with this, it effectively gives up our energy policy to Brussels. It’s
Two of world football’s biggest but worst performing clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur face off in Bilbao on Wednesday in the Europa League final. There is quite a lot at stake, not only Europe’s second most important club title but the substantial bonus of a place in next year’s Champion’s League (worth an estimated £60 million)
To mutilate the words of PG Wodehouse, it is never difficult to distinguish between a Scottish nationalist with a grievance and a ray of sunshine. Fury is the fuel that drives the SNP, which has been in power at the Scottish parliament for 18 years. So it is hardly a surprise that First Minister John
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Polish émigré Zbigniew Brzezinski – known as ‘Zbig’ – rose to prominence in America during the Cold War as a key intellectual architect of US foreign policy. He was National Security Advisor to President Carter and was a trusted advisor to many US presidents from John F Kennedy onwards. Yet, despite helping to shape American
Two and a half years have passed since Liz Truss entered – and swiftly exited – Downing Street. The former prime minister has not laid low since then, however, keeping busy by setting up the ‘PopCons’, releasing her memoir and appearing at CPAC alongside Steve Bannon. Yet while the ex-PM will be remembered by the history books for her short but eventful
‘Why did Albert [not his real name] leave before sports day?’ As is increasingly the norm, I am driving my seven-year-old daughter home from school, and she has questions for me. As questions go, they are reasonable. ‘Albert left to go to a new school’ I say. ‘But he told me it was because of the bat’
Ding ding ding! Sir Keir Starmer may have lauded it a ‘landmark’ deal but his agreement with the EU has gone done like a bucket of cold sick with the UK’s most senior Brexiteers. Former prime minister Boris Johnson is the latest to take to Twitter to lambast the move – and the gloves are
History is an area of remarkable success in our schools thanks to recent education reforms. However, these impressive strides forward risk being undermined by a new wave of activism in classrooms. This process of ‘decolonisation’ in history is not necessary Following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, 83 per cent of schools have made changes to ‘diversify’
Not everything is about money. If it were, we’d be merrily sending our oldies off to assisted dying hubs to free up the social care budget. The fishing industry is one of those parts of public life that is about more than raw GDP. But Keir Starmer has handed over access to British waters for
What happened to Gary Lineker? For years he was football’s Mr Nice Guy. To some he was the Steve Davis of footie: a tad dull but a good egg. Now he’s been let go by the BBC after sharing an Instagram post that seemed to compare Jews to rats. That’s one hell of a tumble.
Bucharest, Romania Moments before Romania’s exit poll was announced, George Simion, the nationalist firebrand and presidential hopeful, was tapping his feet to YMCA on the steps of parliament. The campy American anthem bounced off the marble facade of Nicolae Ceausescu’s vast neoclassical palace, an incongruous soundtrack for the night’s unfolding drama. Behind him, a phalanx
Keir Starmer has just wrapped up his press conference with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The Prime Minister sought to bang the drum for his EU reset, citing his three ‘driving principles’: more jobs, lower costs and enhanced border control. Starmer boasted that his deal ensures ‘unprecedented access to the EU market, the
If you are ever unfortunate enough to need legal advice after being charged with a crime, and you can’t afford to pay for a lawyer, you will probably end up turning to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). I’m familiar with the system. When I was charged with fraud in 2018 I applied for legal aid.
Eurovision is an annual celebration of the gaudy and the garish – but I suppose someone should come to its defence amid the backlash. This year’s contest has provoked a fit of fury not about the naff music, simpering performers, or style choices that make Lady Gaga seem demure, but about the fact that Yuval
While members of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party have long struggled with the concept of biological sex, his voter base appears more confident on the subject. YouGov polling reveals that half of those who backed Starmer’s army in last year’s July election agree with the Supreme Court ruling that saw judges unanimously agree that ‘sex’
The latest exit polls in Poland suggest that liberal Warsaw mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, has won the first round of the presidential elections, with 31 per cent of the vote. Trzaskowski is a career politician, the heart-throb son of a jazz musician. He ran on a pro-European platform and has pledged to defend the independence of
Gary Lineker is off then, much to the BBC’s relief. It is moot as to whether it was his resoundingly stupid views on Israel and Gaza that did the trick, or his criticism of the direction in which Match of the Day seems to be heading (and about which I think he is right). Lineker
Congratulations are due to the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. Not many ministers achieve much at all, let alone ticking off the core of their agenda within a year of taking office. But figures to be released this week, which show that over 13,000 children have had to leave private schools over the past academic year,
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As EU leaders arrive in London for a summit hosted by Keir Starmer, there has been an announcement that the UK and EU have reached a deal. The UK has extended its agreement on EU fishing boats in British waters, while in return fewer checks on British food exports are expected. There have also been