Things can only get worse for Labour
While the government wrestles with intractable problems, Labour seems irrelevant. Is there any hope for the party?
By
Brexit to Trump
Leader: The unresolved Eurozone crisis
The continent that once aspired to be a rival superpower to the US is now a byword for decline, and…
By
The best new children’s books for Christmas
From a goat with a mobile phone to a poor chimney sweep, here are the new stories to look…
By
When Harry met Fifty Shades: what makes a book popular?
The Bestseller Code by Jodie Archie and Matthew L Jockers reveals what literary hits have in common.
By
How two Canadians helped me get America into perspective
It’s only a few days after the election when I go to see Chaim Tannenbaum sing.
By
How a dramatized account of Mark Duggan’s death found a prime-time audience
I usually have an aversion to actors pretending to be police officers in this kind of scenario, but Lawful Killing:…
By
In Snowden, Joseph Gordon-Levitt seems to absorb the spirit of the whistleblower
Gordon-Levitt makes Snowden’s motives transparent without ever fully dropping his guard. It is reassuring that a film in which…
By
My week, from Trump Tower to how I’m spending my Brexit winnings
Writing history’s first draft, my Westminster gridiron gang, and ennobling Naughty Nige.
By
Face it: none of the world’s best education systems include grammar schools
The week that was, from grammar school delusions and Labour floating voters to why republicans will love The Crown.
By
How the left should respond to the steady march of nationalism
The new wave of nationalism is a reminder of the contingent, if not cyclical, nature of history. The liberal…
By
A mouse, some cigarettes, and a new existential panic
I have now slept alone more nights than with a woman by my side: this is a cause for…
By
We don’t live in a world in which post-truth politics is inevitable
Democracy requires a citizenship that meets, deliberates and interacts without fear and hatred. Only in this way can we…
By
Had a meltdown at a self-service checkout? You’re not alone…
Judging by what I saw when I went out to buy cereal, man and machine have hit a critical…
By
The Autumn Statement proved it – we need a real alternative to austerity, now
Theresa May’s Tories have missed their chance to rescue the British economy.
By
What do the new, right-wing populists mean for our future?
It is this year's cruellest political irony that the people who most support the populists are the least "future…
By
Europe’s states of disorder
Those optimistically talking about a "soft Brexit" are missing the bigger picture.
By
Intelligent life on earth: why we need Radio 4’s Book of the Week
When a book on quantum gravity came on air, it sounded like a brief return to something that has declined…
By
What kind of football snob are you?
From where you go to what you eat, football is full of snobs. Who doesn’t like looking down on…
By
Maria Schneider’s story is no surprise – Hollywood has always treated women as commodities
From Last Tango in Paris to Basic Instinct, we are now discovering the unsavoury truth about sex scenes.
By
History’s losers: intimate stories from survivors of the Soviet empire
Second-Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich is an empathetic treatment of collective memory – and grief.
By
Labour and Tory MPs fear the political forces Brexit could unleash
The Liberal Democrats and Ukip are offering Remainers and Leavers alternative homes.
By
A very cheesy Christmas: could you stomach the pong of these cheeses?
In San Sebastián for the World Cheese Awards, I could smell the gathering from the next room.
By
We have been thinking about Brexit back to front
The EU referendum fallout has only served to remind us of the status quo. "Taking back control" is meaningless…
By
In the post-liberal battleground, the politics of belonging must not be ceded to the right
If the left is to avoid permanent irrelevance, it must consider a politics committed to family, decent work, contribution,…
By
Europe’s last Blairite: Can Manuel Valls win the French presidency?
He first made a name for himself protesting against halal supermarkets. Now, he could be the man to take…
By
Commons Confidential: Money for old Gove
Backstabbing Boris, a doctored doctorate, and when private schools come to Parliament.
By
How the eurozone entered a new phase of economic crisis
Matteo Renzi's resignation reminds us that populism has financial consequences.
By
No, identity politics is not to blame for the failures of the left
This is no time to back away from our commitment to women’s rights, racial justice and sexual equality.
By