Category : Political

Stand aside, everyone: the Conservative cowboy builders are back on the job | Marina Hyde

‘Build, build, build,’ gibbers Boris Johnson, as the party that bodged everything now wants to tell us how it will fix things “We will double down on levelling up … We will invest … to fuel the animal spirits … We will not just bounce back, we will b...

Richard Desmond is an endlessly mutating affliction. We must be on the fifth spike of him | Marina Hyde

It’s such a tonic to see the porn publisher back in the headlines after Robert Jenrick intervened to approve his £1bn development Richard Desmond’s autobiography is called The Real Deal: The Autobiography of Britain’s Most Controversial Media Mogul....

This is Boris Johnson's midlife crisis. The rest of us just have to live in it | Marina Hyde

A £900k plane respray, a dirt bike and two new royal yachts. A Celtic knot tattoo on the prime ministerial arm cannot be far off A strong sense of empires crumbling this week, as Led Zeppelin are no longer the biggest dickheads ever to demand a plane...

Marcus Rashford is showing our failing politicians how to do their jobs | Marina Hyde

People usually ask how many nurses you could exchange for one footballer. But one Rashford is worth a hundred ministers Marcus Rashford is 22 years old and the reason desperate families will now continue to receive free school meal vouchers during th...

Of course it's safe to ease lockdown – Matt Hancock is just fixing our alert system | Marina Hyde

Right now, Britain is about as biosecure as the health secretary is convincing. But some people really want an Ikea side tableSo lockdown is eased, sparking one of nature’s most stunning spectacles: the great migration of the humans across the Ikea c...

The numbers are in, and Johnson's government really is world-beating | Marina Hyde

It’s not just Cummings. From laughing Hancock to cheery Sunak, they all want to style out this whole 60,000 dead thingCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageI read this week that Boris Johnson has been given permission by the Que...

The truth about why Cummings hasn't gone: Johnson is too terrified to sack him | Marina Hyde

The prime minister’s decision is not born of loyalty to his adviser – he just can’t get rid of his ideas manCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePerhaps on Sunday you watched the entire nation being lectured on what constitutes...

Lessons on civic duty from Boris Johnson? No thank you | Marina Hyde

The prime minister is handling coronavirus so badly now, he makes even his most unpopular predecessors look public-spiritedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThough it majors in killing, coronavirus certainly enjoys a sideway...

Johnson's back, and this time his message is: all aboard for the sunlit downlands | Marina Hyde

The UK is on course to have the continent’s worst death toll – but don’t expect this prime minister to be a gloomsterCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHow maddening to learn the Nigerian president has appointed a dead man to...

Boris Johnson is tough on crime. Except when coronavirus wants to mug Britain | Marina Hyde

The PM is back – but neither he nor his Good News Bears cabinet can explain why they just watched the virus head for usExciting news in Johnsonian linguistics this week, as the prime minister’s coronavirus response moves beyond his previous “send it...

Donald Trump's prescription for coronavirus: quite literally toxic | Marina Hyde

The president’s advice involves ingesting bleach, which for some of us is beginning to seem like the only rational responseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageInteresting developments in America’s elect-your-id experiment, as...

Hancock's channelling James Blunt, Raab looks terrified. But at least we're not the US | Marina Hyde

He may not be able to deliver enough PPE (or enough ‘care’ badges), but our health secretary sure can deliver a sultry presserCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNews that Matt Hancock, the health secretary, used Friday mornin...

With 1,000 deaths a day, our leaders should be facing far tougher questions | Marina Hyde

Dominic Raab ought to be addressing inadequate testing plans and kit shortages for NHS staff, not his ‘letters of last resort’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDay 19 of lockdown, and some Britons have identified a greater e...

The horror of coronavirus is all too real. Don't turn it into an imaginary war | Marina Hyde

Politicians may turn to platitudes about heroes or battlers or victories, but they can’t disguise Britain’s grim current realityThe language of war is baked in to most of us, to one degree or other. Our new daily discourse runs deep with talk of fiel...

It's only a matter of time before Raheem Sterling gets it in the neck for coronavirus | Marina Hyde

In this week’s shifting blame game, health secretary Matt Hancock has kicked Premier League footballers into touchOne of the great rules of British public life is that sooner or later, everything ends up being blamed on footballers. No matter how ali...