All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
The latest challenge was to compose a spring villanelle. The villanelle – established in France in the 16th century by Jean Passerat with his poem about a lost turtledove – lends itself to themes of loss and time passing, and many of you chose to reflect on the bleaker side of spring. But this overall
I’m sure every ‘horsey’ person has been asked the same question: ‘Who should I put my money on in the Grand National?’ No matter whether you’re a dressage rider or a four-in-hand driver, come mid-April everyone wants to hear your views on the most-watched horse race in Britain. £300 million is expected to be bet
The irony of the stalemate in the cross-party Brexit talks is that Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are not that far apart on the issue, as I say in The Sun this morning. They might use different language, but what they want is really quite similar. But while they may not be that far apart,
If the EU grants us a long extension (and let us pray that M. Macron’s malice towards Britain leads him to prevent this), Remainers are worried. They want the extension, but not the European elections, since there is a real chance that ‘the wrong people’ might win. Ken Clarke, I gather, is working out a plan
One of the many tragedies of Theresa May’s premiership is that, having come up with a coherent policy on how to enact Brexit, she spent her prime ministerial career failing to follow it. The words she used in her speech at Lancaster House in 2017 seemed clear enough: ‘No deal is better than a bad
There has been considerable and widespread cynicism about the talks between the Government and Labour about a compromise that could break the Brexit deadlock. But those close to the negotiations, led today by David Lidington and Keir Starmer, believe there is at last a “plan with a chance,” of securing a positive vote from MPs
This week we reached a new level of chaos in British politics. With parliament voting down all indicatives vote options, as well as May’s deal for the third time, the Prime Minister was running out of moves. So that’s how we find ourselves here: with a Prime Minister reaching out to Jeremy Corbyn. James Forsyth
This week the sultanate of Brunei officially introduced sharia law, announcing that homosexuals now risk being sentenced to death by stoning. While it is blindingly obvious to most liberals that consensual homosexual activity in private is not a crime, and that the latest laws are horrifyingly brutal and antiquated, is turning our backs on the country really the answer?
The result from the Newport West by-election came in late last night and as was generally expected Labour held the seat, albeit with a reduced majority. As had also been expected, turnout was significantly down on the general election. Here is the full result: Candidate (Party) Votes per cent (change on 2017) Ruth Jones (Labour)
To understand the decay of the Labour Party since 2015, look no further than its London youth wing. London Young Labour (LYL) is the Momentum-controlled home of the capital’s under-27 Labour members. It is also a sparkling example of the worst kinds of regressive identity politics popping up on campuses across Britain. As a 26-year-old
I am not sure whether it’s me or ministers who are the more naive. Because last night I was persuaded by Cabinet sources a breakthrough was nigh in talks to resolve the Brexit deadlock between the Government and Labour. But the talks are already on the verge of collapse – with each side making charges
Like Mother Teresa on a message grid, Nicola Sturgeon loves nothing more than going among the poor and downtrodden with a hug, some hope, and an embargoed press release. EU nationals are the latest beneficiaries of the First Minister’s ministrations. The SNP leader has penned an open letter to EU citizens resident north of the border
Talks between Labour and the government over Brexit aren’t going anywhere. Labour has released a statement this evening saying that: “We are disappointed that the government has not offered real change or compromise.” The Guardian’s well informed Heather Stewart is reporting that Labour are saying that the government weren’t offering any changes to the political
Yesterday, Mr Steerpike reported that the founder of the left-wing campaign group Momentum, Jon Lansman, had been removed as a person of significant control from one if its two companies. But it appears that there have been even more machinations going on behind the scenes at Momentum HQ. Today, the online listing of Momentum Campaign
This Saturday, 600 million viewers are expected to tune in to watch The Grand National. Horse racing is the second biggest spectator sport in the UK, and Aintree’s most famous race – in fact, Britain’s most famous race – will be screened in every corner of the globe. £300 million of bets will be placed
For the prospective parliamentary candidates of Newport West, last night was the culmination of two months of frantic campaigning, as they fought to win a seat in parliament following the death of the Labour MP, Paul Flynn. Once the polls had closed and counting began, the candidates all headed to the Wales National Veledrome, as
After two rounds of talks with the Leader of the Opposition aimed at finding a way to break the Brexit logjam, Theresa May has written a letter to EU Council president Donald Tusk on her next steps forward. In it, the Prime Minister expresses regret that the House is yet to approve a Brexit deal.
Washington, DC is a town full of tradition. There’s the State of the Union address at the beginning of the year and the cherry blossom festival in March and April, when tourists around the world descend on the nation’s capital. There’s the ritualistic glad-handing, ego-stroking, and gossip-milling. And, of course, there’s the never-ending infatuation with
Sometimes Remainers mirror Brexiteers in not really considering the EU side of Brexit. Last night, when the Cooper bill passed with one vote, was such a moment. ‘Hurray, we ruled out a no-deal Brexit!’ seemed to be the general feeling from Remainers in the media. Similarly, those advocating for a no-deal Brexit fumed as the
Strange espionage events with a Chinese flavour are piling up at Mar-A-Lago, President Trump’s home-away-from-home. Awkward questions are now being raised about what’s really going on, including: are the White House’s real spy problems with Beijing rather than Moscow? In Goldfinger, the British spy-turned-spy-novelist Ian Fleming gave the world the classic line, ‘Once is happenstance.
I do not think I am alone in having real difficulty with the word Islamophobia and attempts to define it as “a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”. Racism of any sort is unacceptable and catered for in the existing law, but this definition is impossibly vague. The reality is
Siemens’ UK HQ happens to be in Manchester, where I was glad to find contrary evidence last week that all is far from lost on the innovation front, at the Northern Tech Awards, presented in rock’n’roll style by the investment bank GP Bullhound. Here were 100 high-growth companies, ranging from the self-explanatory (-Parcel2Go, Pharmacy2U) to
Theresa May has this evening found enough people to fill the various ministerial holes left in her government by the recent slew of resignations. Some of these holes have been gaping for rather a long time: there has been no Minister for Disabled People since 13 March, for instance. But their lack of replacements until
Oh look, there’s water coming through the roof of the House of Commons! What a gift to those starved of metaphors for the mess that has been made of Brexit. The problem is that the water coming through the roof, which the House authorities are insisting is not a sewage leak (in a blow to
Ever since Jeremy Corbyn first put himself forward to be Labour leader in 2015, the founder of Momentum, Jon Lansman, has been one of the most influential figures in Labour politics. Yet, as the far-left group has grown from a simple campaign to elect Corbyn, to a fearsome fundraising organisation at the heart of the
Would we condone teaching a child that 1+1 = 3, for the sake of increasing her interest in maths? No. Would we praise flat earth theorists for getting people talking about the health of the planet? No. So why are we giving credence to meaningless and often deceptive gender pay gap statistics, which have us focusing on
Remember when people would say things like, ‘Jeremy Corbyn might talk a lot of nonsense but at least he has principles’? We now know what rot that was. Corbyn is, in my view, the most unprincipled politician in the UK right now, and by some margin. Exhibit A: this man who was a devoted Eurosceptic
The magnitude of the gulf between the cabinet and perhaps a majority of Tory MPs over how to deliver Brexit was on display like an oozing wound on my show last night. The Chancellor was his normal phlegmatic, unsugaring self when revealing the government is reconciled to a long Brexit delay till at least the end
There is a terrible Adam Sandler movie called 50 First Dates. There are many terrible Adam Sandler movies, but this one is a right honker. Sandler falls in love with Drew Barrymore, who suffers from anterograde amnesia — an inability to retain new memories. He tries to help her remember but she keeps forgetting. Eventually,
Could Donald Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize? He would be following in the footsteps of his predecessor but unlike Barack Obama in 2009 his award could be for something significant: helping to bring an end to one of the world’s most intractable conflicts – the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians. It might sound implausible but
Brexit has had many effects – party disunity, family tensions, uncertainty, reputational damage, a weakened Prime Minister and a potential constitutional crisis. But one of its most significant casualties has been the attention of parliament, government and the media to the wider world and the challenges it faces. Last week, however, there was an exception to that.
Yvette Cooper’s bill, requiring the Prime Minister to seek an Article 50 extension to avoid no deal, has passed by 1 vote—going through all its Common stages in a single evening. The passage of this bill at such speed even though Theresa May has said she’ll ask for an extension, is another demonstration of how
Together at last. Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May are to meet, a deux, this afternoon to find a compromise on the withdrawal agreement. Hugely risky for both leaders. Last Wednesday, May called Corbyn ‘the biggest threat to our standing in the world.’ This week she wants him to help her write an international treaty. At