It will have been more than three weeks since the US and Israel first attacked Iran when the first British warship finally arrives off the coast of Cyprus, a belated defensive deployment that has highlighted the lack of military capacity available to the UK. Nominally, HMS Dragon was one of three destroyers available out of … Read more
It was all smiles and warm handshakes when the two men in charge of renegotiating the UK’s relationship with the EU met in Brussels this week. Maroš Šefčovič and the UK minister for EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, sharing a stage on the third floor of the vast European parliament building, were at pains to show … Read more
“A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward, I will be prepared to be much stronger. And the president should be prepared for that.” Thus spoke Hugh Grant, playing the British prime minister confronting the US president in a famous scene in the … Read more
‘Spacewoman’ Review: Mission Driven
Labour should go into the next general election promising to rejoin the EU, Sadiq Khan has said. The mayor of London has repeatedly made the case for joining the customs union and single market, but went much further on Wednesday night by suggesting the party should promise full membership at next ballot. “We should, as … Read more
A “life-changing” international learning programme set up in Wales after Brexit is at risk of being closed down. Taith, which means “journey” in Welsh/Cymraeg, was established by the Senedd in 2022 after the UK pulled out of the Erasmus+ student exchange programme. Its reach is much wider: many participants get involved through schools, youth groups … Read more
UK pay growth sinks to five-year low as younger workers hit by hiring slowdown Wage growth slowed sharply in the three months to January according to the latest snapshot of the jobs market from the Office for National Statistics. Phillip Inman has the story. Share Peter Kyle, the business secretary, will make a statement to … Read more
When Spain’s King Juan Carlos fell over and broke his hip while on an elephant hunt with a girlfriend in Botswana in 2012, he probably thought that Spaniards would accept this as a minor gaffe after a lifetime of public service. The monarch had, after all, weathered numerous scandals, including a string of extramarital affairs … Read more
In his later years, Jürgen Habermas was sometimes described as “the last European” – a reference to his passionate commitment to the ideals of the European Union (although not always its modern reality). The great German philosopher was also the last surviving exemplar of a generation of postwar intellectuals formed by the experience of the … Read more
Once again, Donald Trump has deployed Nato as leverage to get the US’s European allies to submit to his will. After launching an unprovoked war against Iran, in response to which Tehran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz to shipping has sent oil prices soaring, Trump now wants his Nato allies in Europe to step … Read more