Michael Heseltine calls for “second referendum or general election” on the Brexit deal
The Tory peer and former deputy prime minister accuses Theresa May of having “flip-flopped” on the “intellectual conviction of the…
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Wanted: an opposition
Gang of Four’s David Owen says Labour should “proudly and coherently” work with the SNP
The former Labour politician and SDP co-founder tells his old party to “face up to reality” and agree to ally…
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Tim Farron: Brexit and Conservative rule are not inevitable
The Liberal Democrat leader says his party can stop "two massive calamities".
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David Blunkett compares Labour membership to failed revolution “from Ukraine to Egypt”
The Labour peer and former home secretary says new members need a “meaningful political education”, and accuses unions of neglecting…
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Labour finds it easier to ignore working class people than to persuade them
The metropolitan left needs to start acting as if it is even partly as much concerned about Rochdale as…
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Ben Okri: Brexit is Iago’s paradise
Politicians have become Iago figures, using passion and rhetoric to drown out the Othellos. Justice and civil rights are being rubbed…
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Robert Harris: Some of our great political leaders have crossed the floor. But it takes courage
Jeremy Corbyn is the very opposite of the man the times call for – so progressive politicians need to find…
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Hilary Mantel: The Tories will never confess to their social wrecking agenda. Labour should make them
Leavers didn't vote for a malfunctioning, degraded state, but it’s what they’ve got.
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John Prescott on Labour: “This must be the worst operation I’ve ever seen”
The Labour peer and former deputy prime minister laments his party’s “civil war status”, saying “I wish Momentum would…
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Chris Patten says Theresa May is creating “Millwall” Britain: “No one likes us, we don’t care”
The former Conservative chair urges fellow Tories to oppose Theresa May's “dogmatic, Trumpian view of where this country's going”.
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What do you want from an opposition?
We asked politicians, cultural figures and activists the burning question for our special issue.
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Peter Mandelson slams Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer for “not acting in the national interest”
The Labour peer and former cabinet minister accuses his party leader and the shadow Brexit secretary of having “torpedoed Labour’s…
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To win power, Labour needs to start talking about giving it away
From the House of Lords to First Past the Post, the Labour Party must seek reforms to return power…
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Technology and tragedy: How the government uses terrorism to justify surveillance
Can we trust that new security measures are anti-terrorist and not anti-democracy?
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Far from being a left-wing radical, Jeremy Corbyn is slouching towards Milibandism
Most of the Corbynite agenda can be found in the pages of Britain Can Be Better, the party’s 2015 manifesto.
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For progress to occur, Labour in its current form must bow out
Labour is being kept alive by First Past the Post. For true progress, our voting system must change –…
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Richard Dawkins: We need a new party – the European Party
I was unqualified to vote in the EU referendum. So at least now we should hear from experts.
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Growing a beard for Trump, hoping for George Clooney… and the great Brexit divorce
Every hack in town wrote accounts of the attack on Westminster, but I was intrepidly lunching a mile away…
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Powers behind the throne: how the unions control Corbyn’s fate
Trade unions will be confronted with a painful choice, should Corbyn fight and lose the 2020 election.
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How did the word “liberal“ become a political insult?
No matter what sort of liberal you are, there is another sort of liberal that you are not.
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The death of the scoop, the Mail’s brilliant “Legs-it” pun and the milkman returns
Tabloid newspapers trivialise and sexualise almost everything.
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Paul Mason: After Brexit, even Labour’s radical left may not be radical enough
The balance of forces inside the Labour Party has moved to the left. Can the leadership respond?
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Melvyn Bragg: Once a Remainer, Theresa May has adopted the excessive zeal of a convert
There is no parliamentary opposition, and therefore a government that can do what it wants unless it steps on the…
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The NS Q&A: Guy Garvey on songwriting, Nigel Farage and the terror of parenting
The Elbow singer and 6 Music DJ answers our questions.
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Can the Labour party rise to the task of challenging Brexit?
Without strong parliamentary leadership and clearer direction from Labour, a broad-based challenge to hard Brexit will be impossible.
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Uber vs AirBnB: do you have to be an asshole to found a brilliant start-up?
Ian Leslie discovers how the two companies show Silicon Valley’s split personality.
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Mathias Énard’s new novel Compass erects a barrier to comprehension
The latest “mega-novel” from the celebrated French author of Zone is heavy on erudition but light on interest.
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Ghost in the Shell is a largely humourless affair: all slums, skyscrapers and holograms
This adaptation of the influential anime, starring Scarlett Johansson, is short on thrills.
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I felt like a million dollars with her on my arm. I even offered to pay for my half of the bill
Over dinner, S—— tells me of her latest dating woes.
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Martin Sorrell: I support a second EU referendum
If the economy is not in great shape after two years, public opinion on Brexit could yet shift, says…
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Nick Clegg: The right-wing press is paralysing the Brexit debate
The former Liberal Democrat leader says the populist resurgence will be defeated by a liberal backlash.
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Leader: Labour is failing. A hard Brexit is looming. But there is no need for fatalism
There is nothing inevitable about the right’s supremacy or a catastrophic Brexit.
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My first encounter with sleep-groping – and why it doesn’t work
Everyone knows the dangers of starting a conversation on a long-haul flight, but I felt more inclined towards the…
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Liberal Britain has nothing to say
Liberal Britain is not being heard because it speaks incessantly of a past that cannot be retrieved.
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We are all custodians of our countryside: now we have an opportunity to save it
John Burnside on the countryside’s future
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The stench of decay and failure coming from the Labour Party is now overwhelming
Speak to any Conservative MP and they will say that there is no opposition. Period.
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Sheila Hancock: Why I aspire to be a pacifist
Sheila Hancock recalls her anti-war activism, from Greenham Common to the Iraq march.
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The post-Brexit fantasy of a utopia of flammable sofas
I wonder if Brexit is a magic mirror, in which everyone sees what their heart most desires.
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“Jeremy knows he can’t do the job.“ What now for Labour and Britain’s opposition?
Senior figures from all parties discuss the way forward: a new Labour leader, a new party or something else?
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The dead zone: why intensive agriculture is failing us, and ruining the planet
Mark Cocker discovers the shocking damage caused by modern food production in Dead Zone: Where the Wild Things Were…
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Commons Confidential: Farron dines with the devil
It was surprising to learn that Tim Farron's media team boozed in a Wetherspoons pub in York, when the…
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How Ukip’s Douglas Carswell made himself obsolete
The brightest possible future for him now involves joining one of those sinister US think tanks.
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As the bullfighting season begins in Seville, horse-drawn carts play Europa FM
The station seems an odd choice for the carriage drivers, but it’s the one they turn to.
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Despite its Brexit victory, the hate-addicted right rages on – but the left is silent
The Brexit victors aren’t addicted to independence. They’re addicted to hatred.
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Poem: Boat Race Blues
By Roger McGough.
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A little light Georgian porn: ITV’s Harlots very much does what it says on the tin
The drama is certainly ripe: all quims and cunnies and special offer hymens.
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The June 20 Group: Antonia Fraser’s time in opposition
On 20 June 1988, a group of left-wing novelists, playwrights and thinkers gathered at Antonia Fraser’s house, determined to…
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