Brexit
Portrait of the week: Tories against Brexit, the Salisbury poisoning and Sweden’s election
Home Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, was said to want to throw a lifeline to Theresa May, the…
Must ‘the will of the people’ always be respected?
I’ve always respected Alistair Darling and cannot imagine him saying anything ill-considered. But listening to him interviewed last Monday on…
A Canada-style Brexit deal might come back on to the table
Over the summer, a no-deal Brexit became less likely. Eurosceptic ultras have been forced to be less blasé. The return…
For the love of gin
I’d missed the train, and the next was due in 45 minutes, so I popped into the nearby salon for…
Is it easier to leave the EU than Norton AntiVirus?
Leaving Norton, the antivirus software package, is a bit like trying to leave the EU. You may think, once you…
China is winning the new scramble for Africa. Brexit could change that
On her tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, Theresa May finally made a positive case for Brexit. For too…
Portrait of the week: Theresa May goes to Africa, Labour accused of anti-Semitism (again) and John McCain dies
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, flew off to South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria accompanied by a trade delegation. In…
Letters: The US sanctions against Venezuela have always been about regime change
Venezuelan sanctions Sir: Contrary to the impression given by Jason Mitchell, Venezuela does not have a socialist economy (‘Maduro’s madness’,…
The people vs Brexit: a very elite insurgency
The very best impressionists do not simply mimic the mannerisms, speech patterns and facial expressions of their targets — they…
The People’s Vote have one big advantage: their opponents are in disarray
It may seem odd that a cabal of politicians, celebrities and millionaires can successfully present themselves as a great democratic…
Is Frank Skinner the new Alan Bennett? Edinburgh Fringe round-up
For recovering teetotallers, like me, Thinking Drinkers is the perfect Edinburgh show. On stage, two sprucely dressed actors perform sketches…
Conversations with a penis, having a laugh about Brexit and why titles matter: Edinburgh Festival reviewed
David Greig has written the international festival’s flagship drama, Midsummer. This farcical romance is performed as a party piece by…
Why do we support the Iran regime when it is bitterly hostile to our way of life?
President Trump has ended US participation in the Iran deal and imposed sanctions. No doubt this is annoying to the…
Why is it that so many leading Brexiteers studied history?
What do Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Dominic Cummings all have in common? They are Brexiteers, of course. Yet little…
For any politician spoiling for a fight over Ireland’s border, Under the Tree is required viewing
Every so often there’s a news story in which neighbours quarrel over rampaging leylandii. The police are summoned, the case…
Now May’s talking tough over Brexit, we might actually get somewhere
Ever since Theresa May declared that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ she has seemed to be drifting…
Ukip should return – our politics depends on it
‘The return of Ukip’ declared the headline on our cover story last week. The polling boffin Matthew Goodwin to whose…
Brexit means Boris
A few months before he died in 2007, Bill Deedes asked if I would come to see him at his…
The horror of post-Brexit Britain: Perfidious Albion, by Sam Byers, reviewed
Edmundsbury, the fictional, sketchily rendered town in which the action of this novel takes place, is part of a social…
Boris Johnson: Why we should chuck Chequers
Surely there is a bit of humbug in this outrage about the two remaining jihadi Beatles, Kotey and Elsheikh, and…
Why austerity is coming to an end
The last day of the parliamentary term is usually an occasion for the government to get a whole bunch of…
Ukip is back thanks to the Chequers backlash
The UK Independence Party might be about to make a comeback. Ever since Theresa May’s Chequers deal on Brexit, which…
The view from Paris: ‘Why are Brexiteers so stupid?’
‘Problème est masculin; solution est féminine,’ says Brigitte, the adored French teacher at the British embassy in Paris. Good way…
May’s Brexit plan has failed. She needs a new one – and fast
Handling Brexit was never going to be easy for Theresa May, given that the Tories have been fighting a civil…
The sense of betrayal feeds the demand for a no-deal Brexit. Watch this space
The collapse of Mrs May’s Chequers plan, followed by Tuesday’s failure of the Tory Remainers to defeat the government, creates…
