12 h. ago A braver Tory leader than Badenoch would dare to call out Farage's bogus patriotism | Rafael Behr

Across western democracies, established conservatives are yielding to radical nationalism. There’s no sign that Britain will be the exceptionIn free societies, when you don’t like the government, you support the opposition. In dictatorships, or under military occupation, you join the resistance. The distinction isn’t precise but it matters.All European democracies have radical anti-immigration parties, some on the fringes of opposition, some that have crossed into the mainstream. None qualify as heroic resistance movements, except in the minds of white supremacists who see liberal institutions as part of a conspiracy to ruin Europe by filling it with foreigners. That is also the view taken in the new White House national security strategy, published last week.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

56 h. ago Labour think tank that supported Starmer asks members who they would back in leadership challenge

It comes amid growing concern of the direction of the government and devastating approval ratings less than two years after Labour’s historic landslide election victory

Politics

3 d. ago I'm A Celeb final epic as ITV airs nearly 3 hours of jungle action

The final episode of I'm A Celeb 2025 will air on 7 December after almost a month of bushtucker trials, and will crown one survival savvy star the King or Queen of the Jungle

Politics

3 d. ago Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse shuts down professional dancer after he shouts out during her remarks

STRICTLY judge Motsi Mabuse has shut down a professional dancer after he shouted out during her remarks on the show. Strictly Come Dancing is nearing its final stages, with the five remaining couples back for Musicals Week. Karen Carney and her partner Carlos performed an energetic samba to The Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity. Giving...

Events

4 d. ago Detroit reflects on Mike Duggan's tenure as his final days in the mayoral office near

Mike Duggan is stepping down as Detroit mayor at the end of the year after three terms in office

Politics

4 d. ago BREAKING I'm A Celeb in shock double eviction as two favourites leave

Lisa Riley and Jack Osbourne have dramatically left the jungle in a shock double evicition which has left fans fuming. The competition is hotting up as the final nears

Events

5 d. ago I'm A Celebrity viewers think campmates are 'forgetting' after 'weird' moment in camp

The ITV reality show is nearing an end of another year, with this year's final set to take place this Sunday

Politics

6 d. ago Starmer warned he will ‘squander trust’ with mayoral elections delay

Former local government minister Jim McMahon has hit out at the decision to postpone mayoral elections after Reform compared the PM to a dictator

Events

6 d. ago Jennifer Lopez finally 'COVERS UP' tattoo dedicated to Ben Affleck marriage... one year after split

Nearly a year after finalizing their divorce, Jennifer Lopez has apparently taken another step in distancing herself from ex-husband Ben Affleck.

Politics

7 d. ago Fear of facing the future has British politics stuck in the past | Rafael Behr

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves claim to be dealing with the world as it is, but their choices betray yearning for a world that has disappearedHollywood has stopped betting on original ideas. Sequels and remakes dominate the box office. Among this year’s Christmas movie releases are Zootropolis 2 (the first Zootropolis came out in 2016), Avatar: Fire and Ash (third in a series that began in 2009), and Wicked: For Good (part two of the adaptation of a musical that premiered in 2003).New stories are risky. It is safer to retell old ones. British politics feels similarly afflicted by paralysis of the imagination, intimidated by change, stuck in a narrative loop.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago I'm A Celebrity Martin Kemp's wife Shirlie addresses viewers comments in 'guilty' admission

The singer has opened up about her husband of 37 years' stint on the ITV reality show as the final nears

Events

1 week ago St Vincent opposition party celebrates historic election win

New Democratic party victory is crushing defeat for Unity Labour which has held power since 2001The New Democratic party (NDP) in the Caribbean country of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is celebrating a historic landslide victory taking 14 of 15 seats, according to preliminary results.The decisive vote was a crushing defeat for the Unity Labour party (ULP), which has been in power since 2001. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Former Townsville mayor Troy Thompson found to have misled voters about cancer diagnosis and military history

Report by Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission says Thompson leaked confidential council documents to an unnamed ‘adviser’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe former Townsville mayor Troy Thompson misled the electorate about a cancer diagnosis, his military history and university qualifications, according to a report by the Crime and Corruption Commission.The CCC also found that, as mayor, Thompson leaked numerous confidential documents to an unnamed “adviser”, sending them 8,741 encrypted WhatsApp messages in a five-month period. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Martin O'Neill confirms his final Celtic European match as Wilfried Nancy appointment nears

O’Neill set to lead Celtic out in Europe for final time

Politics

2 w. ago Slow Poison by Mahmood Mamdani review – can you really rehabilitate Idi Amin?

The anthropologist and father of New York’s mayor-elect offers a revisionist view of modern Ugandan historyChildren of Ugandan Indians are having a bit of a moment. Electropop boasts Charlie XCX; statecraft, the Patels: Priti the shadow foreign secretary, Kash the FBI boss. And while the ones who go into politics have tended to be conservative, we now have a counterexample in Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who clinched the New York mayoralty at the beginning of this month.The anomaly is best explained by the politics of his father, Mahmood Mamdani. The apple, it seems, did not roll especially far down the postcolonial hillside. Mahmood, professor of government and anthropology at Columbia University, has long styled himself as the left’s answer to VS Naipaul. Where the Nobel-winning curmudgeon surveyed postcolonial Africa with disdain, revelling in the wreckage of independence, Mamdani presents a more forgiving view: pathos instead of pity, paradox instead o...

Politics

2 w. ago Rachel Reeves has many problems. She’s realising that her Brexit bind may be the biggest of all | Rafael Behr

Brutal economic realities are prompting a shift in Labour’s tone on Europe. But will it dare tell the whole truth about Britain’s predicament? Rachel Reeves has approached this week’s budget like a reluctant swimmer inching into freezing water, trying to ease the unpleasantness by incremental exposure. The chancellor started paddling delicately around the problem of insufficient revenue at the end of the summer. First, she refused to stand by former insistence that tax rises in last year’s budget would be the last. “The world has changed,” she said.Then, earlier this month, she took a bigger stride into the icy waves. There was a speech promising to “do what is necessary” to fund public services and keep borrowing costs down. Downing Street did not discourage speculation that this meant reneging on Labour’s 2024 manifesto promise not to raise income tax. Too deep! Within 10 days the Treasury had retracted the hint. The manifesto commitment still stood after all. As any cold-water sw...

Politics

2 w. ago Compromises, voluntary measures and no mention of fossil fuels: key points from Cop30 deal

A deal is welcome after talks nearly collapsed but the final agreement contains small steps rather than leapsThe UN climate summit Cop30 moved forward the fight against the climate crisis and the damage it is already causing to lives and livelihoods. But the measures agreed are steps, rather than the leaps needed. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Starmer’s squandering of a historic election victory is a tragedy nearing its finale | Rafael Behr

The tactics that gave Labour its huge majority in 2024 were no preparation for government – and the prime minister has proved he has nothing more to offerThe mood among Labour MPs these days follows Edgar’s law. This states that the scale of any misfortune can only be measured against unknown future disasters. As Shakespeare has the banished son of the blinded Earl of Gloucester say in King Lear: “The worst is not, so long as we can say ‘this is the worst’.”According to Edgar’s law, there is no opinion poll so gloomy for Labour that it can’t be followed by one even bleaker; no fiscal forecast so bad that the Treasury can’t aggravate it with contradictory signals on tax; no misgivings about Keir Starmer that can’t be amplified by malevolent briefing about a leadership challenge; no social policy so nauseating to the party faithful that it can’t be made grosser still with a relish of cruelty.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago The Guardian view on Germany under Merz: Europe’s powerhouse is still struggling | Editorial

Donald Trump’s trade wars and Chinese competition constitute formidable headwinds. But old economic orthodoxies are not the answerLast March, following angst-ridden months as Europe came to terms with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, financial markets in Paris, Milan and Berlin were gripped by a surge of optimism. The cause was a historic deal brokered by Friedrich Merz, then Germany’s chancellor-elect, which loosened constitutional spending constraints in the EU’s powerhouse nation. Here at last, it was hoped, was the fiscal kickstart required to end a prolonged period of economic stagnation, and mitigate geopolitical headwinds blowing from the US and China.Six months into Mr Merz’s premiership, the angst is back and there are the first murmurings of rebellion. The chancellor’s plan included “whatever it takes” levels of defence spending, designed to prepare Germany for a changed era in which the US was no longer a dependable ally, and a huge €500bn investment in infr...

Politics

4 w. ago There’s a missing link in British public life – and it underpins crises from the BBC to our prisons | Rafael Behr

A declining sense of collective identity is corroding trust in our institutions and undermining democratic politicsImagine you are given a pile of tokens, representing real money, and invited to donate to a common pot. There are other players but you can’t interact with them. The sum of collective contributions will be trebled, then shared equally among all players. What do you do?If everyone submits all their money, all get richer. But if everyone except you pays in, you can enjoy the collective payout while retaining your original stash. The flaw in the selfish strategy is that other people might have the same idea. If no one pays in, there is no bounty to share.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Events