Opinion

In a classic episode of Yes, Minister the hapless minister Jim Hacker and adroit civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby desperately try to stop a visiting African president from making a controversial speech in front of the Queen. The fictional country's leader successfully extorts money from the British government in exchange for not mentioning the 'Celtic peoples' and their struggle for freedom. A small national embarrassment is avoided, the Queen is not insulted and both countries ultimately benefit. What would Hacker...

Theresa May is officially stuck between a rock and a hard place. With one of the most divisive issues in a generation on the table she has somehow managed to make compromises on both sides and yet end up pleasing no one. Treasury PPS Scott Mann and Witney MP Robert Courts are the latest Brexiters to walk out on the back of the controversial Chequers deal. They join the Brexit Secretary, Foreign Secretary and five others on a list that is...

When Margaret Thatcher launched her assault on Britain’s industrial towns in the 80s suspicions that the country’s coal output may be on the decline were already there for all to see. Much of continental Europe had started to wind down their operations and the view from the Conservative benches was that the UK must follow suite. The problem was that they had nothing to put in its place, and so the benefits culture that still exists today was created. With...

Brexit chaos continues to engulf Westminster. David Davis and Boris Johnson have resigned, along with a number of minor Conservative figures. The long awaited Brexiteer rebellion may finally have begun. And it could be fatal for the Tory Party. It's hard to underestimate the trouble the Conservative Party is in right now. In the abnormal political atmosphere, two senior cabinet ministers jumping ship is not enough to trigger a leadership challenge. But this should not re-assure Theresa May or her...

"In politics, there are Realists and there are Romantics", William Hague wrote in the Telegraph today. His words echo those printed in a Guardian editorial last week before the Chequers outcome unravelled, pointing to the collection of rudderless populists that have been left in charge of running the country for the past two years. Since the EU referendum several high-profile political campaigners and anti-EU political parties have disappeared into the ether as attempts to deliver their ill-conceived plan are tabled. David Cameron,...

Boris Johnson walks away from Theresa May's government with his head held high today after been given the freedom to decide his own destiny. The outspoken politician has survived numerous sackable offences during his tenure on the front bench and is yet another Brexiter to walk away from a mess they created. Owen Jones noted on Twitter shortly after the announcement that "the fact Boris Johnson resigned rather than being sacked for his rampant disloyalty and his repeated outrageous comments shows...

On the face of it, 70 years ago, the National Health Service was a crazy proposition. An insane concept by which people were suddenly given a service for free that those who could afford it had previously paid a small fortune for. Its proposal was greeted with the same scepticism that someone might receive now for suggesting we should all be entitled to free petrol, free beer, or a free haircut. There had to be a catch. But this is...

In the beginning there were seven. The North, The Iron Islands, The Vale, The Westerlands, The Stormlands, The Reach, and Dorne, all fiercely protecting their corner of Westeros and all pedalling a claim to the Iron Throne in a game that has become renowned on television sets world-wide. It is a synopsis that has become widely linked to political happenings in the real world since it first aired in 2011. The divisions between the proud north and the governing south...

Cast members from the award winning TV series The Handmaid's Tale are raising awareness about violence against women and girls by joining forces with women's rights group Equality Now to share real-life stories that eerily reflect plotlines from the show. In a two-minute film, cast members including Joseph Fiennes, Samira Wiley, Madeline Brewer and Ann Dowd, and lead production crew share the words of women and girls describing personal experiences of rape, sex trafficking and female genital mutilation. "This is not...