Nigel Jones is a historian and journalist
At the height of the Cold War, it was Britain that appeared to be infested with Russian spies and moles. From the 1950s to the 1980s a series of security scandals, from the defections to Moscow of the Cambridge spies Burgess, Maclean and Philby, to the exposure of the Queen’s art advisor Anthony Blunt as
Vladimir Putin has journeyed to the southern city of Volgograd – better known by its former name of Stalingrad – to take part in the 80th anniversary celebrations of the great Soviet victory in the city this weekend. The battle was the turning point of the second world war. While there, the Russian president specifically
Almost half a century ago, on 28 February 1974, Britain went to the polls in a general election called by Tory prime minister Edward Heath. The election was called in the midst of a crisis eerily resembling the situation that confronts Rishi Sunak today. Britain was ‘working from home’ on a three day working week announced
As the skies darken over Rishi Sunak’s embattled government, with ministers being fired or placed under investigation, opinion polls dire and few signs of better times ahead, Tory optimists are (somewhat desperately) searching for signs that all may not yet be irretrievably lost for their party. The hopeful precedent that they have come up with
Nadhim Zahawi, who has been sacked by Rishi Sunak after days of headlines over his tax affairs, could learn a lot from the example of one of his predecessors as chancellor. Labour chancellor Hugh Dalton entered the House of Commons to deliver his autumn Budget on 10 November 1947. On his way in, he was
The Germans have a word for it. When they wish to criticise their Austrian cousins’ alleged tendency towards carelessness and inefficiency they call it schlamperei. The rough equivalent in English is ‘sloppiness’ – and a flurry of current cases suggests that it may be Britain’s new national vice, too. How many times in recent years and
‘To suffer one scandal,’ as Oscar Wilde didn’t quite write, ‘may be regarded as a misfortune. But to suffer three at once looks like carelessness.’ ‘Careless’ is indeed the very word used by Tory party chairman Nadim Zahawi to describe his handling of his own tax affairs – just one of several potential scandalettes gathering
Germany’s marked reluctance to supply Leopard 2 tanks to help Ukraine repel the brutal Russian invasion has very little to do with the feeble evasions and excuses offered by Berlin, and everything to do with the long shadows cast by German history. January 30 sees the 90th anniversary of Adolf Hitler becoming Germany’s Chancellor, yet
Rishi Sunak has been Prime Minister for nearly 100 days – but what has Sunak done with his victory since moving into No. 10? Sadly, the answer is very little. Despite enjoying a healthy Commons majority inherited from Boris Johnson’s landslide election victory, no new legislation has been passed and dubious measures from the old
Fraternal relations rarely run entirely smoothly. But the degree of animosity revealed in reports of the physical clash between Princes William and Harry in the latter’s book Spare is nothing new in the turbulent history of Britain’s royals. In fact, the alleged spat between the brothers pales in comparison to the murderous hatreds between past
The news that his security experts are conducting an urgent review of the King’s safety during his expected traditional Christmas Day walkabout near his Norfolk home, Sandringham – where he will be accompanied by his wife – is sad but scarcely surprising. Already in his short reign there have been two disturbing incidents: eggs were
The government has a plan for dealing with the wave of walkouts affecting nurses, paramedics, Border Force staff and a swathe of public sector workers: send in the soldiers. Unfortunately though the idea has hit a snag: the army is not impressed. The head of the armed forces himself, Admiral Sir Tony Radakan, chief of
The news – reported in the FT Weekend – that former Prime Minister David Cameron is to teach a three-week course in politics next month at the New York Abu Dhabi University is quite something. For Cameron’s political career ended in spectacular failure – and he has hardly covered himself in glory since. A review of
If an election were held tomorrow, not only would Labour win, they would bury the Tories with a landslide majority of 314 seats, leaving the Conservatives with a forlorn rump of just 69. That’s the verdict of an opinion poll from Savanta. Even for an embattled Tory party, the verdict is notably grim. According to
Germany is one of the world’s most successful liberal democracies. It is an unlikely place for a coup. Yet attempts to seize power – such as the far-right plot exposed by the country’s security services, that resulted in the arrest of 25 people this week – are more common in Europe than we might like
This Christmas, Britain is facing what is not far short of a general strike. Rail workers, ambulance drivers, nurses, postal workers, and firefighters have already announced a strike wave or are balloting their members for authorisation to do so. Rail traffic across the country will be paralysed. Families will be unable to easily get together
The popular historian Ben Macintyre is a fortunate fellow. No sooner has the BBC’s acclaimed adaptation of his account of the SAS’s wartime birth Rogue Heroes wrapped up, than on 8 December ITV launches an equally lavish drama series, A Spy Among Friends based on another of his bestsellers – the story of Soviet super
Across China, the world’s most populous nation and its second largest economy, scenes unprecedented since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 are unfolding. In city after city crowds of young people are taking to the streets, holding up blank placards in eloquent protest against state censorship, and demanding to be treated ‘as citizens not slaves’.
It is only a month since Boris Johnson gave up his dramatic attempt to regain the Premiership he reluctantly surrendered in July. Already he is making headlines once more. In an interview with CNN a slimmed down and bubbly Boris caused a diplomatic rumpus by accusing France and Italy of going wobbly and claiming that
Observe, this dark weekend, a contrast. On Whitehall, the centre of British government, the Royal Family and leaders of our political class gather to pay solemn tribute at the Cenotaph to those who gave their lives for their country in the two world wars and other conflicts since. In a year that has witnessed the
