British government orders inquiry into murder of Pat Finucane by UDASolicitor was shot dead in Belfast home in February 1989 by loyalist paramilitaries in attack found to have involved state collusionWed Sept 11 2024 - 18:49
Hilary Benn said he couldn’t give Finucane family their murdered father back, but he could give them ‘transparency’NI Secretary of State explained to the House of Commons that Britain had made a ‘solemn commitment’ to the family of Pat Finucane and it had to be honouredWed Sept 11 2024 - 18:05
A ball of smoke and not much fire as Labour backbench rebellion over winter fuel cut burns outThe row had a little bit for everybody in the audience as Westminster gets back to businessTue Sept 10 2024 - 20:00
Keir Starmer delays appointing Washington ambassador until after US presidential race London Letter: Former Labour heavyweights David Miliband, Peter Mandelson are said to be contenders for the role of UK ambassador to Washington, along with Belfast Agreement negotiator Jonathan PowellTue Sept 10 2024 - 18:04
UK government warns unionists the Republic could help decide the North’s future if Stormont collapses againHilary Benn and Micheál Martin give speeches at British Irish Association conference in OxfordSat Sept 07 2024 - 09:10
‘The fire broke our family’: Grenfell was, above all else, a human tragedyLives and deaths can be pieced together from the witness statements, transcripts and formal findings of this week’s inquiry into the fire at the towerSat Sept 07 2024 - 06:22
‘We need to inject some passion’: Young Scottish independence activists think the movement has lost verveUnion supporters and those in favour of independence are almost ‘eeksie peeksie’ in polls but the Scottish National Party appears to have put its breakaway dream on ice for nowThu Sept 05 2024 - 16:54
Grenfell Tower fire: Starmer issues state apology as inquiry’s damning final report is publishedIrish building firm Kingspan among those criticised in long-awaited report into fire that killed 72 people in 2017Wed Sept 04 2024 - 20:30
Kingspan made false claims about insulation used on Grenfell Tower, says reportIrish multinational ‘knowingly created a false market’, report on 2017 disaster findsWed Sept 04 2024 - 20:29
The Grenfell inquiry report brought truth, but only prosecutions will bring justiceBritish people are getting used to seeing their leaders apologise in parliament for the failings of the stateWed Sept 04 2024 - 20:10
Grenfell fire and a London-Irish family’s loss: ‘I said are you okay? He replied: No sis, I’m not’The family of Denis Murphy recall their anguish as others demand justiceWed Sept 04 2024 - 18:29
Donohoe brings dad energy to London as he tells financiers Europe has a fix for its economic illsThe Minister for Public Expenditure travelled to London as president of the Eurogroup, preaching optimismWed Sept 04 2024 - 06:00
‘Inadequate’: One-word school ratings abolished in England after tragedy involving distraught headteacherLondon Letter: Labour has scrapped controversial gradings that unions say placed intolerable strain on teachersWed Sept 04 2024 - 05:01
Jack Chambers says AIB share sale provides ‘option to do more’ on delivery of housingMinister for Finance also discusses renewable energy investment with Britain’s new chancellor Rachel Reeves during trip to LondonTue Sept 03 2024 - 05:48
Scottish National Party leader warns of daunting financial challenge for ScotlandJohn Swinney gives first conference address to the party since taking over as leader in summerSun Sept 01 2024 - 19:00
‘Us, posh? Never’: British elites claim they’re definitely, maybe into the hobbies of common peopleResearchers find elite Britons often pretend to like football and beer as they’re “insecure” about their legitimacySat Aug 31 2024 - 07:00
Bruised SNP gathers in Edinburgh as senior figure offers potential olive branch to Alex SalmondScottish Nationalist Party members meet for the first time after it was trounced by Labour in July’s UK electionFri Aug 30 2024 - 19:11
‘Zombie’ knife amnesty begins, but increase in stabbings across London continuesA 32-year-old woman, stabbed on Sunday at the Notting Hill carnival, among the latest victimsWed Aug 28 2024 - 05:00
Keir Starmer chooses Number 10′s rose garden to deliver thorny message to British publicNew PM warns October budget will be difficult as Tories concealed £22bn fiscal ‘black hole’, while UK riots exposed nation’s ‘rot’Tue Aug 27 2024 - 11:59
Asylum seeker’s ‘culturally incongruent’ defence fails to convince British judgeSheffield Letter: A refugee from the Central African Republic meets the British legal system after assaulting teenage girlsWed Aug 21 2024 - 05:00
Expansion of posh bakery chain Gail’s riles some east London residentsThe planned arrival of Gail’s in Walthamstow has stoked a gentrification row, although not a typical oneMon Aug 19 2024 - 16:56
‘A malignancy in society’: Tears and smirks in a Sheffield court as rioters jailed over wrecked asylum hotelSome of the men who took part in recent violent unrest this week faced the consequences of their actions as their families watched on in anguishFri Aug 16 2024 - 14:49
The myth of passport-free flying between Britain and Ireland under the Common Travel AreaLondon Letter: In practice, only the British show any respect for the 100-year old CTA. It should embarrass Irish authorities, but it doesn’t.Wed Aug 14 2024 - 05:00
Nottingham stabbings: Victims’ families say doctors and police have ‘blood on their hands’Review of mental care provided to Valdo Calocane before he stabbed three people finds litany of failuresTue Aug 13 2024 - 16:30
Multicultural Britain. A People’s History by Kieran Connell: Stunning insights but plenty overlookedA worthwhile but incomplete chronological journey through the making of Britain’s modern multiracial societySat Aug 10 2024 - 04:26
Anne Applebaum: ‘Trump is a transactional person whose interest is in himself... It’s why he is more dangerous’The Pulitzer prize-winning author on the growing dangers of Trump, the difference between Putin and Xi Jinping, and why Russia is not done with UkraineSat Jul 20 2024 - 06:00
‘The adults are back in the room in London’: how far will Starmer’s reset of UK-EU relations go?New Labour government could open door to future talks with EU on defence, trade checks and youth movement, but it will have to face down the right-wing domestic pressSat Jul 20 2024 - 05:00
Revenue Commissioners will have no role in collecting television licence feeIt’s understood that the Coalition is to examine improvements to the existing collection system to deliver an increased level of funding being gatheredFri Jul 19 2024 - 06:00
‘We have reached out a hand to our European friends’: Keir Starmer thaws the UK’s European relationshipsThe atmosphere at the European Political Community summit was reflected in the warm weatherThu Jul 18 2024 - 20:35
Harris rejects Orban’s attempts to get EU to row back on military support for UkraineHungarian prime minister touted new plan following recent trips to Beijing and Moscow and talks with TrumpThu Jul 18 2024 - 16:28
RTÉ funding: Government close to agreeing deal retaining TV licence fee and providing exchequer supportFinishing touches to agreement in process of being nailed down by Department of Public Expenditure and Department of Arts and MediaThu Jul 18 2024 - 15:11
‘I can’t overstate the significance of this meeting’: Harris and Starmer begin Anglo-Irish ‘reset’ at ChequersSeptember Ireland v England soccer fixture in Dublin will offer another opportunity for Taoiseach and prime minister to build on early bonhomieThu Jul 18 2024 - 06:31
Keir Starmer agrees to visit Ireland after dining with Taoiseach at ChequersBritish prime minister to visit on September 7th, the night of a football match in Dublin between the Republic of Ireland and EnglanWed Jul 17 2024 - 19:50
Troubles Legacy Act: repeal commitment from Labour government made in King Charles speechUK government acknowledges controversial legislation ‘denies justice to families and victims’Wed Jul 17 2024 - 12:11
Labour promises to ‘take brakes off Britain’ with up to 40 Bills promised in king’s speech‘Fiscal lock’ tax and spending Bill promised, as well as ban on smoking and a new regulator for football clubsWed Jul 17 2024 - 11:37
The Spectator’s summer bash is the power party of Westminster and its fuel is champagneThe Spectator's summer bash last week at the magazine’s London offices was an illustration of the shifting dynamics in UK politicsTue Jul 16 2024 - 16:26
A woman started dancing and singing ‘Viva Espana’ when Spain scored. Was she mad? Was she Irish?The evening began with England fans buoyed with belief but it ended with familiar agonyMon Jul 15 2024 - 10:41
Tensions in Reform UK after Nigel Farage shakes up party leadershipParty leader sacks Reform’s deputy leaders as one of them expresses ‘concerns’ over decision makingThu Jul 11 2024 - 18:47
Popular Conservatives clan meets in Westminster amid agreement Tories are neither ‘popular nor conservative’While the right-wing Tory factions meet to plan a ‘rebuild’, election winners gathered in parliament to be sworn inTue Jul 09 2024 - 19:18
First-day-at-school vibe in Westminster as Labour regime arrives in townHundreds of brand new MPs descended on parliament this week after the electionTue Jul 09 2024 - 14:36
Labour government warns of dire UK finances as it begins first full week in officeChancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves gives her first speech at the TreasuryMon Jul 08 2024 - 20:10
Keir Starmer and David Lammy hit the road as Britain’s Labour government eyes relationships resetBritish prime minister seeking to smooth ties between Westminster and SNP-run Scotland while foreign secretary attempts to build relationship with European governmentsSun Jul 07 2024 - 19:05
Ray of hope for Britain as clouds briefly part for Keir Starmer’s arrival at Downing StreetIt poured rain all day in London but there was a sunny interlude at a convenient moment for the new Labour prime ministerFri Jul 05 2024 - 21:39
Conservatives lost UK’s landslide election just as much as Labour won itKeir Starmer’s party turned the election map red - but secured fewer votes than in 2017 when led by Jeremy CorbynFri Jul 05 2024 - 19:04
Peers, polls, politics and a proper party: Labour faithful’s prayers answered … finallyUK election: Labour’s ‘official unofficial’ election-watch festivities had wedding vibes, and then the DJ played D:ReamFri Jul 05 2024 - 18:53
Labour eyes control of Scotland’s parliament after routing SNP in electionScottish Labour under Anas Sarwar has completed a Lazarus-like recoveryFri Jul 05 2024 - 18:25
Keir Starmer: Britain’s new PM shaped by a distant father and deep ‘love’ for IrelandLabour Party leader now leads a Britain riven by division and uncertainty about its past, present, and futureFri Jul 05 2024 - 12:29
Keir Starmer set to be British prime minister amid landslide victory for Labour in UK electionLabour set to secure 410 seats, with Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives on 131Thu Jul 04 2024 - 22:29
UK general election: Polls open with Labour on course for historic victoryUK election: Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak says he will take responsibility for the result, which could cost half his cabinet their seats in parliamentThu Jul 04 2024 - 07:34
British electoral politics are still reassuringly loonyLondon Letter: Joke candidates such as Nick the Incredible Flying Brick are a beloved tradition in British electionsWed Jul 03 2024 - 05:00
