All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
To London, where the Institute for Government’s 2025 conference is in full flow. This afternoon the think tank hosted a wide-ranging conversation with Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart. The Tory MP discussed everything from the role of the civil service to the glamorous life of an opposition politician. ‘In the Cabinet
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At a press conference this morning, Keir Starmer moved quickly to announce a public inquiry into the Southport murders. This comes after Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift–themed dance class last year. The Prime Minister promised that ‘no stone’ will be ‘left unturned’ when it
The PM’s warm words will count for little. Starmer’s pledge is reminiscent of the one made by Theresa May in June 2017 Keir Starmer has pledged to act in light of the revelations about Southport killer Axel Rudakubana. The 17-year-old murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year, and it has
Remember how the first incarnation of a Trump presidency was supposed to be pretty well curtains for Planet Earth? Well, don’t worry: we are all going to be just fine this time around. Why? Because Al Gore assures us so. ‘The global sustainability revolution is unstoppable,’ he declared in a statement following Trump’s speech. ‘Now
It’s a day ending in ‘y’ – so of course Keir Starmer is spinning like a top. Donald Trump’s inauguration this week has sparked a raft of speculation (again) about a long-awaited US-UK trade deal. The Telegraph reports that the Prime Minister is taking this push seriously: so seriously in fact that he has now
Cast your mind back eight years. The day after Donald Trump’s first inauguration, hundreds of thousands of women marched on Washington in opposition to the incoming president. Adorned in pink ‘pussy’ hats, they were joined by protesters in London, Sydney, Zurich and at least 30 other American cities. As I argued at the time, beyond
We’re not even 24 hours into the second Donald Trump term and already there’s a ‘New Nazis’ panic. Only this time it’s not The Donald who’s being branded Hitler 2.0. It’s his billionaire pal and state-slashing tsar, Elon Musk. The Guardian says Musk did ‘back-to-back fascist salutes’. At yesterday’s wacky inauguration, a giddy Musk gave
Another day, another set of poor poll results for Labour. At the start of its 2025 conference, the Institute for Government think tank has unveiled some rather revealing analysis by Deltapoll of 1,500 adults between the 17th and 20th January. It transpires that just 22 per cent of people believe Sir Keir Starmer’s government is
The assailant in the Southport massacre has pleaded guilty to the murders of three children in the town last year. Keir Starmer has leapt with unusual speed to authorise a public inquiry into what drove Axel Rudakubana into his frenzy of killing and if it could have been prevented. We now know that the state’s
After coming under criticism for not announcing a national inquiry over the grooming gangs scandal, Keir Starmer moved quickly on Monday to announce a public inquiry into the Southport murders. Following Axel Rudakubana’s guilty plea to the charge of murdering three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year, the
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Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. All the former leaders of the free world were there to watch Trump take the oath – again – but how was this inauguration different to the last? And what signs were there of how Trump intends to govern? Guest hosting
Rachel Reeve’s £25 billion National Insurance rise is beginning to bite. According to the latest data on our labour market, released this morning by the Office for National Statistics, payrolled employment fell by 47,000 last month — the sharpest fall since the pandemic. Meanwhile, the number of vacancies in the economy fell for the 30th consecutive period,
The new president of the United States believes in fairness, and says the running of the Panama Canal has been very unfair. Even though President Trump’s thunderous ‘Golden Age’ inauguration speech was short on foreign policy objectives, he still managed to slip in his ambitions for the canal. He wants it back in American control,
When you hear the term ‘grooming gang’, what comes to mind? ‘Grooming’, as I have long said, is a euphemism for targeting, raping, and pimping. Gang members routinely and sadistically sexually assaulted victims for their own twisted pleasure but ultimately the girls were used for profit: the gangs were running a business, and the girls
The abiding question for the 47th President of the United States of America is whether he now, after running against everything that counts as orthodox in the way of politics, has suddenly become a politician. Donald Trump is the candidate from beyond the beltway, the man who speaks directly to the public. Yet the conjuring trick,
If Donald Trump, as Scott Jennings observed on CNN, is at the ‘apex of his political power,’ then what comes next? In his inaugural address, Trump vowed that ‘American decline’ had ended and a ‘golden age of America’ was about to begin. He essentially embraced what amounted to a form of liberation theology. ‘Liberation Day,’
Yvette Cooper has this evening announced that the government will be setting up a public inquiry looking for ‘answers’ on how the Southport attack could have taken place, along with reforms to the Prevent programme. This comes after Axel Rudakubana changed his plea to guilty in his trial for murder and attempted murder. In fact,
The temperatures at game time in Kansas City and Buffalo this weekend were in the high teens and the low 20s, respectively, before both sank even lower as day turned to night. The temperature in Washington on Capitol Hill when Donald Trump began to give his second inauguration address was -2ºC a far cry from
Joe Biden is out, Donald Trump is in, and ‘the golden age of America has begun.’ Trump’s second inaugural address on this frigid January afternoon was, as one might expect, laced with grievances, bombast, self-congratulation and big promises. The speech was a preview of the dozens of executive orders primed for the president’s signature hours
‘The golden age begins right now’ said the 47th President of the United States as he began his inauguration speech in the Capitol Rotunda. What followed was a 30-minute speech, during which Donald Trump stayed both on script and on message, reiterating his promise to declare a border crisis, deport foreign criminals, return America’s title
Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris and my fellow citizens: The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the
Joe Biden has bowed out of the White House with a slew of presidential pardons. Today they have been awarded to Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, a bunch of family members and an assortment of investigators from the 6 January riots – but Biden also controversially pardoned his son Hunter a month ago, despite promising
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The parties – and protests – have already kicked off, as Trump’s inauguration gets underway in Washington D.C. today. Katy Balls speaks to Michael Gove and Republicans Overseas UK’s Sarah Elliott about what we can expect from the first week of Trump’s second presidency, and how Keir Starmer will attempt to navigate the ‘special relationship’.
The Village People joined Donald Trump on stage at the conclusion of his pre-inauguration rally last night. ‘You won’t recognise them, they’re a little bigger, but that’s life,’ The Donald informed us beforehand, in one of the many interesting digressions in his long, long address. This was less of a speech and more of a
On his record, Novak Djokovic deserves to be rated as the greatest singles tennis player of the last 50 years. Twenty-four Grand Slam titles. An Olympic gold medal. Ninety-nine tournament wins overall. Goodness knows how many finals appearances. Some say he’s the greatest of all time: the Goat. Contrast that with Tony Jones. A veteran
Back to Scotland, where SNP health secretary Neil Gray is in the spotlight over some rather curious expense claims. The nationalist minister has come under fire after it emerged that he had been using ministerial cars to take him to sports matches – and now further questions are being raised about just how justified these
Tulip Siddiq and the Labour government would like to think that her resignation as a minister earlier this week will end the controversy surrounding her and will result in a quick return to the front bench. ‘The door remains open you for going forward,’ Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said of Siddiq in response to
There is a perverse congruence of interests between the British and Russian governments, as both sides seek to talk up London’s level of influence in Ukraine. This was particularly visible in the new agreement signed between the UK and Ukraine last week – and Moscow’s response to it. To the Kremlin, after all, Perfidious Albion remains
The new year is three weeks’ old – but some Tories are determined to stick to their resolutions. An impressive number of ex-MPs are keen to make a quick comeback to parliament and have already signalled their intention to stand again in 2029. Leading the charge is Grant Shapps, the former Defence Secretary rejected by
Difficult, I know, to spend your life dreaming of having gone to Oxford. This year’s offers have just been announced and Cambridge’s are imminent. I feel for those who miss out, but I have some words of comfort. My late mother told me I announced my desire to study at Oxford aged seven, visiting the
Help the aged. Really, someone should help the aged. By this I don’t mean the poor pensioners who’ve been hit by the cut to their winter fuel allowance. Nor do I mean the Baby Boomers who are unfairly maligned for having bought a house when it was affordable to do so, and have held on
As President Trump takes office later today, Keir Starmer has assembled his top team, tasking them with landing a trade deal with the United States. It’s a nice idea, sure, but he is not going to get a deal – and he will simply embarrass himself by very publicly failing. The Prime Minister has put
Last week, the government made two major announcements on science and innovation. With backing from the Prime Minister and Chancellor, Science Secretary Peter Kyle laid out a detailed plan to ‘turbocharge AI’. The new ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’ set out how the government will support AI to boost the economy and improve the productivity of
Dear, oh dear. Will David Lammy never get it right? This morning he told the Today programme that Donald Trump is ‘funny, friendly and warm’, that he has ‘incredible grace’ and that he is full of generosity – the last remark apparently based on Trump offering him a second helping of chicken when they met
