3 d. ago ‘It’s not your turn,’ the board's selection committee chair said. Instantly I felt as though I was back in the school yard | Julianne Schultz

While the tension between meritocracy and ‘jobs for mates’ is always there, the best boards are more than the sum of their parts Many years ago, I was encouraged to put my name forward to chair a significant government board. It seemed like a long shot to me, I wasn’t in anyone’s club, but my supporters were insistent. I agreed to let my name go into the mix.It was a surprise then when the chair of the selection committee called a few weeks later and said with an apologetic tone: “Sorry Julianne, it’s just not your turn.”Julianne Schultz is deputy chair of the Sydney writers’ festival board Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago What to know about Hong Kong's legislative election after a fire raised governance concerns

The deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades is putting pressure on Beijing’s governance system in the city

Politics

1 week ago The Guardian view on Ukraine peace talks: Putin is taking Trump for another ride on the Kremlin carousel | Editorial

Russia’s president is only interested in a deal on Moscow’s terms. Equipping Kyiv with the resources to fight on is the quickest route to a just settlementAs Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving Day deadline for a Ukraine peace agreement came and went this week, the Russia expert Mark Galeotti pointed to a telling indicator of how the Kremlin is treating the latest flurry of White House diplomacy. In the government paper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a foreign policy scholar close to Vladimir Putin’s regime bluntly observed: “As long as hostilities continue, leverage remains. As soon as they cease, Russia finds itself alone (we harbour no illusions) in the face of coordinated political and diplomatic pressure.”Mr Putin has no interest in a ceasefire followed by talks where Ukraine’s rights as a sovereign nation would be defended and reasserted. He seeks the capitulation and reabsorption of Russia’s neighbour into Moscow’s orbit. Whether that is achieved through battlefield attrition, or through a Trum...

Politics

2 w. ago Home Office 'should have the guts' to meet public over Cameron Barracks asylum seeker plan

Fergus Ewing said the UK government ‘has made this plan and should have the guts to put it to the people’

Society

2 w. ago OBR to ‘downgrade growth forecasts for every year of this parliament’

The news will come as a major blow to the government, which has put economic growth at the centre of its plan for Britain

Politics

2 w. ago Boris Johnson nurtured 'toxic' Covid government culture as 'loudest voices' won

The former Prime Minister was found to at points have 'reinforced' a toxic culture inside the government that ultimately put Downing Street on the back foot during the pandemic

Politics

2 w. ago Musicians’ Union welcomes government ban on inflated gig ticket resales

The union said the move to ban resales for profit would help to maintain the relationship between artists and their fans.

Politics

2 w. ago Ban on ticket resales for profit is Government putting fans first, says Nandy

Ministers have confirmed plans to make it illegal for tickets to concerts, sport and other live events to be resold for more than their original cost.

Politics

2 w. ago Manchester United’s seat licence plan threatened by ticket tout clampdown

Club plan to sell PSLs to help fund new £2bn stadiumModel to be outlawed by proposed government legislationManchester United’s plans to sell personal seat licences to supporters to help fund the £2bn redevelopment of Old Trafford has been put under threat by the government’s clampdown on ticket touts.The Guardian has learned that the proposed PSL model being considered by United permitted seat licence holders to sell on their match or season-tickets at a profit to other fans but that will now be outlawed by the government in proposed legislation due to be introduced in next year’s King’s Speech. Continue reading...

Sport

2 w. ago FCA pension scheme invests less in UK stocks than private sector peers

Low allocation comes as the government and FCA encourage fund managers to put more money in domestic market

Economics

2 w. ago Crackdown on ticket touts to ban resale of live event briefs for more than their original cost

The new rules will mean ticket resale above face value will finally become illegal after years of campaigning by this newspaper.

Economics

3 w. ago Tennessee judge blocks Trump's use of National Guard in Memphis but gives time for government appeal

A Tennessee judge has blocked the use of National Guard in Memphis under a crimefighting operation by President Donald Trump but also put the order on hold, giving the government five days to appeal

Politics

3 w. ago Ticket touting crackdown: Government plans to BAN reselling above face value for big sporting events amid concerns fans are being ripped off

Reselling tickets for live events for profit is reportedly set to be banned by the Government in a move that will have an impact on sports fans. 

Sport

3 w. ago Ticket resales above face value set to be outlawed in touts crackdown

Ministers are expected to announce the plans within days in major victory for fans of live events

Politics

3 w. ago Homelessness is increasingly hard to ignore – unless you are the Labour party | Simon Jenkins

The government is focused on building new homes for floating voters, while landlordism is discouraged and homes stand empty As opera-goers trooped into the London Coliseum this week, three helpless drunks were camping on the adjacent front steps. One was struggling to stop another pulling down his trousers – or possibly helping him. In Chandos Place around the corner, half a dozen more were bedding down out of the rain. Over the road, staff at the hallowed St Martin-in-the-Fields homeless charity were under siege.There is only one housing crisis. It is not the lack of somewhere nice to live. It is the lack of somewhere to sleep. Rough sleeping is vagrancy, and illegal in England and Wales under the Vagrancy Act. It means the police can “move you on”. The government promised to “develop a new cross-government strategy” to “put Britain back on track to ending homelessness” in its election manifesto, so next spring it is scrapping the 19th-century act. Rough sleeping will be decriminal...

Society

3 w. ago US House will vote next week on bill compelling release of Epstein files

Mike Johnson announced move hours after swearing in Adelita Grijalva, whose signature triggered vote Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, told reporters on Wednesday he will put the bill compelling the release of government files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the House floor next week.“We are gonna put that on the floor for [a] full vote next week, soon as we get back,” the speaker told reporters, as the chamber gathered to debate legislation to reopen the government. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago US House to vote next week on bill compelling release of Epstein files

Mike Johnson announces move hours after swearing in Adelita Grijalva, Democrat whose signature triggered voteMike Johnson, the US House speaker, said on Wednesday he would put the bill compelling the release of government files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the House floor next week.“We are gonna put that on the floor for [a] full vote next week, [as] soon as we get back,” Johnson told reporters, as the chamber gathered to debate legislation to reopen the government. Continue reading...

Politics