9 h. ago Air India plane crash victims: British family and former Indian politician named as first victims of tragedy

Tributes have been paid to the first named victims of crash on London Gatwick-bound flight that killed more than 200 people

Events

34 h. ago British holidaymakers will avoid long airport queues after border deal agreed

Britain has agreed to a fluid border between the British overseas territory Gibraltar and Spain in a major deal with the European Union after years of Brexit wrangling

Economics

68 h. ago Once again, British politicians want to ‘ban the burqa’. But this time, I’ve never felt so afraid | Nadeine Asbali

Since the riots last summer British Muslims have felt a deep unease in our own countryHere we are again, debating the right of Muslim women to wear what they want. Last week, the Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin asked the prime minister, Keir Starmer, if he planned to follow other European countries and prohibit burqas.Then the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, called for bosses to be able to ban the burqa in the workplace. Following the example of the former Labour minister Jack Straw, who in 2006 sparked the first burqa debate by asking constituents at his surgeries to remove their face coverings, she stated that she does not see constituents at her surgeries if they have their faces covered, “whether it’s a burqa or a balaclava”.Nadeine Asbali is a secondary school teacher in London and the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago British government reverses policy that limited home heating subsidies for retirees

The British government say it is reversing its unpopular plan to end winter home heating subsidies for millions of retirees

Events

7 d. ago Russian ambassador blames UK in part for Ukraine’s drone attacks

The British Council has meanwhile been barred from Russia, as tensions between Moscow and the West continue to deepen.

Events

7 d. ago British Palestinians urge action from Government as relatives starve in Gaza

The group is asking the Government to impose comprehensive economic and diplomatic sanctions on Israel.

Politics

7 d. ago MP repeats calls for inquiry into British role in 1984 storming of Golden Temple

Speaking in the House of Commons, Warinder Juss pressed for an ‘independent, judge-led public inquiry, to get to the bottom of what happened’.

Events

8 d. ago The spirit of Liz Truss, ridiculous but relentless, stalks British politics | Rafael Behr

Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have much more in common with the failed Tory leader than either cares to admitWe need to talk about Liz Truss, although there are reasons not to bother. The prime minister who failed faster than any previous holder of the office has much to say about her dismal record, but nothing insightful. She cuts a pitiful spectacle padding out the schedule at rightwing conferences, chasing attention and relevance with an addict’s fervour.Last week, Truss was at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, sharing the big lesson she learned in government. It was that British institutions have been captured by a leftist doctrine and that they “hate western civilisation”. She couldn’t possibly counter this threat from No 10 because supposedly the real power was wielded by a well-financed “globalist network”, operating through such engines of anti-democratic subterfuge as the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization.Rafael Be...

Politics

8 d. ago The spirit of Liz Truss, ridiculous but relentless, still stalks British politics | Rafael Behr

Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have much more in common with the failed Tory leader than either cares to admitWe need to talk about Liz Truss, although there are reasons not to bother. The prime minister who failed faster than any previous holder of the office has much to say about her dismal record, but nothing insightful. She cuts a pitiful spectacle padding out the schedule at rightwing conferences, chasing attention and relevance with an addict’s fervour.Last week, Truss was at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, sharing the big lesson she learned in government. It was that British institutions have been captured by a leftist doctrine and that they “hate western civilisation”. She couldn’t possibly counter this threat from No 10 because supposedly the real power was wielded by a well-financed “globalist network”, operating through such engines of anti-democratic subterfuge as the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization.Rafael Be...

Politics

9 d. ago Criminal cases review body ‘must win back trust’ as interim chairwoman announced

Dame Vera Baird KC will carry out an urgent review into the running of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Events

1 week ago Strategic Defence Review: The key points of plan to create '10 times more lethal' British Army

Key points at a glance as Prime Minister and Defence Secretary unveil plan to keep Britain safe against rise in foreign threats

Politics

1 week ago AI, drones and missile defence investment part of UK new defence plans

The SDR marks the ‘most profound change for about 150 years in how you think about armies, navies and air force,’ one of the authors suggested.

Events

1 week ago Resident doctors warn of ‘immensely disruptive’ potential co

The physicians formerly known as junior doctors are being balloted in England for strike action.

Events

1 week ago Jilted man put tracker on ex's car and made her life a misery

The victim said Ian Andrew's stalking was relentless. He made phone calls, sent texts and created fake social media accounts. He left flowers cut from strangers' gardens on her car and sent gifts

Politics

1 week ago ‘In his company you could not be lazy’: remembering my friend Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

A giant of African literature whose best works existed between the political and the personal, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was warm, funny and friendly – and liked to bet on my pool gamesAmong the African writers who emerged in the middle of the 20th century, the most political undoubtedly was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Born in Kenya while it was still under British rule he was anti-colonialist, a communist, anti-dictatorial, and an almost militant proponent for African languages being used for African literature.His best works exist at the interface between the political and the personal. His first book of essays, Homecoming, is at once engaging and polemical. His early novels Weep Not, Child and A Grain of Wheat look at the impact of colonialism and the Mau Mau rebellion on individual lives. He was strangely at his best with the personal and the intimate, but his reputation grew more from his political stances – first against the British government, then against the dictatorship in Kenya in the 70s...

Politics

1 week ago Mother of jailed British activist admitted to hospital while on hunger strike

Laila Soueif has been on hunger strike for 242 days in protest against the imprisonment of her son, Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

Events

2 w. ago Charles has pushed the boundaries of politics as king – and got away with it | Martin Kettle

Right now, the monarch’s political leanings appear in sympathy with the mood of Britain. But what if the public moves further to the right?It requires an effort to keep reminding yourself of the sheer historical oddity of monarchy’s healthy survival into the modern democratic age. Yet so rooted is the monarchy in the mental furniture of Britain that most people in our politics barely think about it. This week, however, the modern British monarchy has stood up and demanded to be counted, doing something new and perhaps genuinely consequential.Judged by any yardstick, Charles III’s visit to Canada was an audaciously disjunctive event. The idea that a vibrant democracy such as Canada, with a highly sophisticated sense of its own complex identity, might summon an elderly hereditary monarch from across the ocean to provide a focal point for its resistance to Donald Trump’s existential threat takes some believing. Yet that was exactly what played out this week, when the king travelled to ...

Politics

2 w. ago In Canada, Charles pushed the boundaries of politics as king. So far, he has gotten away with it | Martin Kettle

Right now, the monarch’s political leanings appear in sympathy with the mood of Britain. But what if the public moves further to the right?It requires an effort to keep reminding yourself of the sheer historical oddity of monarchy’s healthy survival into the modern democratic age. Yet so rooted is the monarchy in the mental furniture of Britain that most people in our politics barely think about it. This week, however, the modern British monarchy has stood up and demanded to be counted, doing something new and perhaps genuinely consequential.Judged by any yardstick, Charles III’s visit to Canada was an audaciously disjunctive event. The idea that a vibrant democracy such as Canada, with a highly sophisticated sense of its own complex identity, might summon an elderly hereditary monarch from across the ocean to provide a focal point for its resistance to Donald Trump’s existential threat takes some believing. Yet that was exactly what played out this week, when the king travelled to ...

Politics

2 w. ago Lawyer joins calls for sealed Chinook crash documents to be released

Solicitor advocate Professor Peter Watson said the decision to seal the documents was ‘extraordinary and unjustified’.

Events

2 w. ago ‘Infused with the fire born of resistance’: the magic of the Calabash literary festival

Marlon James, Ian McEwan and Sheryl Lee Ralph lit up the Jamaican book event, celebrating the small island’s gargantuan cultural footprint with readings, discussions and DJs“Do I look like a rebel?” Booker prize winner Marlon James jokingly asks the crowd moments after walking on stage, head-banging his dreads to the sound of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.If your only experience of literary festivals are polite, well-mannered affairs inside tents in the British countryside, the Calabash literary festival, held on Jamaica’s Treasure Beach, hits differently. It’s not just the setting but the rare joy of seeing a majority-Black audience and roster at a literary event. It’s a festival infused with the magic and fire born of resistance. Continue reading...

Events