Category : Political

What a week for England, when arse-flare guy looks like our brightest spark | Marina Hyde

The security meltdown at Wembley, beamed live to the world, was topped only by the prime minister’s ‘levelling-up’ gibberishBoris Johnson’s major speech to explain the “levelling-up” agenda opted instead to completely level it. I can’t say I’ve ever...

Marina Hyde on five years of watching the political circus

For Anushka Asthana’s last episode, the beloved columnist makes a rare appearance to survey an era of tumult and twerps – and explain how she took it all very seriously … through jokesAs a rule, Marina Hyde doesn’t do TV, or radio, or podcasts. But s...

Footballers can say it, but for England’s politicians, ‘sorry’ really is the hardest word | Marina Hyde

The emotional maturity of the Euro 2020 players is in stark contrast to that of the prime minister and governmentThese days English people expect more from our football team than our government. Which is a funny old switcheroo, when you think about i...

We can’t keep politics out of sport, but please keep politicians out of football | Marina Hyde

As the government piggybacks on England’s success, remember how it took on footballers – and lost – in the pandemicDid you see the prime minister in the fancy seats at Wembley on Wednesday? He seemed to have come dressed as a particularly brutal Matt...

With Johnson driving, it doesn’t feel like we’ve reached the end of the Covid line | Marina Hyde

The government wants us to take responsibility, but isn’t so keen on giving us the data we need to make informed decisionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSixteen months ago we probably would have rolled our eyes at being t...

George Galloway doesn't 'sow division'. He sprays it everywhere | Marina Hyde

Batley and Spen’s voters have rejected him, after a byelection campaign so toxic you’d need a hazmat suit just to read about itThe three most prominent hat-wearing guys in public life are George Galloway, weirdo anatomist Gunther von Hagens, and that...

The lord chancellor and park yobs agree: it’s all about how many mates you’ve got | Marina Hyde

A shared assumption unites Robert Buckland’s defence of the PM’s untruth and the shameful harassment of Chris Whitty On Monday, the prime minister could be found gibbering at the camera on a factory visit, wearing not just a hard hat and a hi-vis jac...

Matt Hancock, the one-time sex cop now busted for a dodgy clinch | Marina Hyde

The health secretary once described lockdown-breaking hookups as ‘a matter for the police’. Will he hand himself in?Sorry, but the only thing I want to see Matt Hancock doing against the back of his office door is sliding down it with his head in his...

Letting in the Uefa variant could be Boris Johnson’s next own goal | Marina Hyde

If 2,500 of the ‘football family’ get a free pass into England, the double standards of our self-isolation rules will be laid bareHow encouraging to see Uefa masterminding a return of jeopardy to the Euros. Not in the football, you understand – putti...

Why it suits Boris Johnson to have a cabinet of all the hopeless | Marina Hyde

From Matt Hancock to Gavin Williamson, these proven failures have become the prime minister’s human shieldsHow are you enjoying Dominic Cummings’ mission to dump on Matt Hancock from the greatest possible height? I am beginning to think of it as Oper...

Who’ll save us all from Covid? Apparently, it's Gillian McKeith and Right Said Fred | Marina Hyde

A ragtag band of misfits is here to tell us the truth about virology – and it’s led by Britain’s least favourite stool samplerStrictly scientifically – to use the term as she’d understand it – I have always held Gillian McKeith personally responsible...

If this is how they react to taking the knee, please keep politicians out of sport | Marina Hyde

The rightwingers who condemn the players’ anti-racism protest are clearly people who don’t even like football“Let’s keep politics out of football this summer,” intoned Nigel Farage, a politician, releasing his second video about football in a 24-hour...

The Tories have worked out how to pull off an NHS data grab: do it during a pandemic | Marina Hyde

Taking data from patients in England was so unpopular in 2014 it had to be shelved. Now it’s happening without the scrutinyIt feels so wrong starting an article with the words “you need to hear about this” when it doesn’t concern things Gwyneth Paltr...

A dangerous cult now runs Britain – the worshippers at the Temple of Johnson | Marina Hyde

No matter what the prime minister does, no matter the consequences, his devotees line up to heatedly excuse itLast night’s Downing Street coronavirus briefing was given by Matt Hancock, now identifiable only by his dental records. According to Domini...

Dominic Cummings, tosser of pretend hand grenades: you’re no war hero | Marina Hyde

There’s something pathetic about the hardman rhetoric favoured by some of Britain’s most privileged, powerful menWhat a pleasure to hear once again from Dominic Cummings, the Conservative government’s Prince Harry, who on Wednesday appears in exile t...