Membership of the European single market was at stake when the UK voted on Brexit, but it was not the decisive question in the campaign. The leave campaign dishonestly promised a cost-free severance of ties with Britain’s largest trading partner. As immigration came to dominate the debate, the requirement to allow free movement of people…
The British government plans to ban access to social media for all children under 16, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, after weeks in which the nation debated how it would introduce new protections for children online. Mr. Starmer said the government would introduce the new regulations in Parliament before Christmas and bring a…
Amid all the backstabbing and plotting in Britain’s beleaguered Labour Party, one crucial fact can easily become lost in the twists and turns of the saga – embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not even faced a formal challenge to his leadership yet. Instead, he is facing a slow-motion coup that could drag on for…
Most people have made up their minds, and nothing you can say will change them: that’s the credo of parties such as Labour and the Democrats. Don’t challenge voters on the doorstep. Use focus groups to find out what they want, and give it to them. Follow, don’t lead. But all that’s on them, not…
Not known for his humour, DH Lawrence thought of Lady Chatterley’s Lover as a serious novel about the sacred nature of sex. But some of the activity between Connie and the gamekeeper Mellors is funny, either unintentionally (as in the scene where they garland each other’s naked bodies with flowers) or with a playful recognition of…
A British judge on Tuesday paused a civil trial in which four women had accused the online influencer Andrew Tate of abuse, a month after the police in Britain said they were reinvestigating criminal accusations against Mr. Tate by three of the women. The trial, which had been set to begin in June in Britain’s…
The two-year decline in healthy life expectancy in Britain, set out in new analysis from the Health Foundation thinktank, is devastating. In a wealthy country like the UK, at a time of rapid advances in the treatment of illnesses including obesity and cancer, people should not be living with sickness or disability earlier than they…
When you think of retirement, what comes to mind? Perhaps it is images of older people enjoying a well-deserved period of leisure and comfort in the final stretch of their lives. Cruise ships, garden centres, golf clubs and bungalows by the sea. The truth is that this image is now, in large part, the artefact…
Donald Trump is not impressed by soft power. He respects hard men with military muscle. But he can be moved by pageantry, which is the purpose of King Charles’s visit to Washington this week. Trump is flattered to rub shoulders with majesty. The good vibes are then supposed to radiate warmth through a political relationship…
The British government said Tuesday that it had summoned the Iranian ambassador in response to what it called “unacceptable and inflammatory comments” posted by the Iranian Embassy on social media. The summons, a formal diplomatic tool, comes as the relationship between Britain and Iran has grown particularly fraught amid the war in the Middle East….
