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UK temperatures to struggle above freezing for first full week of 2026

Cold conditions bringing a range of wintry hazards will continue across the UK for the next few days. Temperatures will struggle to get above freezing as many people are due…

Criminal barristers to strike indefinitely over justice system ‘crisis’

Staff at four universities vote on possible strike action in disputes over cuts

Powers to seize mobile phones over Channel crossings come into force

Mother and daughter involved in ‘tragic incident’ off Yorkshire coast – police

Auschwitz survivor and stepsister of Anne Frank, Eva Schloss, dies aged 96

Police charge Rangers player with driving offences after car crash

King meets child on a tricycle after Sandringham church service

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COMMENT

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Sonia Sodha

The road to recovery

First in 1945, then 1997 and now 2024. The three times in history that a Labour government has been elected on a sweeping majority, crushing the Conservative incumbents. What Keir Starmer…

Simon Heffer

Why Labour has to be conservative

Here’s a paradox for you: Britain is a conservative country that hates the Conservative party. As our American cousins vulgarly say: “Do the math.” On 4 July 24 per cent…

Keiran Goddard

Falling better

The only thing slower than writing books, it seems, is publishing them. The mechanisms of…

Michael Janofsky

Defensive positions

When I was a kid and the Cold War was in full bloom, we were…

Khaled Bazzi

Where hope takes root

As headlines veer toward the apocalyptic – from collapsing ecosystems to vanishing species – it’s…

Sam Fowles

Might is not right

The date of 26 January 2024 may become a watershed moment in the history of…

Peter Lawlor

History’s false promises

In 2015, when interviewing Jonathan Sumption, Matt Stadlen asked a deceptively simple question: “Why does…

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COMMENT

Sonia Sodha

The pitfalls of assisted dying

One of the first concepts new students of philosophy are…

Simon Heffer

Why Labour has to be conservative

Here’s a paradox for you: Britain is a conservative country…

Peter Lawlor

Question time

A little while ago, I was invited to a small private dinner at a well-known…

Mic Wright

Past futures

When we reach for past visions of the future to measure against our reality, we…

Peter Phelps

Beware Project Fear

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the googly-eyed sage Yoda lectured…

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Perspectives

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All that jazz

Lucy Moore

The carefree socialites of the 1920s can teach us how to let our hair down

The emblem of excess

Christobel Kent

Fashion is the essence of capitalism

Fierce courage

Rick Stroud

How a Belgian princess, a waitress and a British nurse risked their lives during WWI

Perspectives

Snob value

Philip Hensher

Looking down your nose at “common” behaviour can create a constructive social dynamic

The disappearance of Abdullah Öcalan

Toby Green

Imprisoned for a quarter-century, the Kurdish leader has been all but forgotten

Keeping Russia in check

Peter Hitchens

A wrong move by a fractious West could trigger all-out war

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PEOPLE

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The Interview The Interview - Front Page

BY

Gavin Esler

Hein de Haas

Sociologist and myth-buster Hein de Haas explains how politicians’ pandering to prejudice has backfired

In Conversation In Conversation - Front Page TCE

BY

Joanna Grochowicz

Michael Palin

Talks about his new volume of diaries, his support for the Prison Reform Trust, the loss of his wife Helen, and his determination to keep travelling in his 80s

Reputations Reputations - Front Page

BY

Terence Blacker

Chuck Berry

The revolutionary musician who single-handedly transformed rock 'n' roll

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - Q&As

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Ed Balls

Economist, broadcaster and former cabinet minister

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

Vince Cable

Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Secretary of State (2010-2015)

Joanna Lumley

Actress, campaigner and national treasure

Robert Peston

ITV News political editor and presenter of Peston

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE – Q&As

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Rosie Boycott

The first woman to edit a UK broadsheet newspaper

Vince Cable

Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Secretary of State (2010-2015)

Ed Balls

Economist, broadcaster and former cabinet minister

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Tom Curry

England Rugby International and Sale Sharks Flanker

Andrew Roberts

Historian and journalist

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CULTURE

MORE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

Author Interview - Front Page TCE The author Interview

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Helen Brown

“Sex is the place where the animal body erupts into the life of the thinking mind”

Tessa Hadley

The critically acclaimed novelist discusses her 1950s-set novella The Party with Helen Brown

Francesca Beauman

The Persephone Books publisher discusses forgotten gems written by women and the imprint’s 150th book

Ruth Ivo

The former burlesque dancer discusses her fictionalised memoir of Soho life in Performance, the exhilarating freedom of club nights in her youth and “hatching” from an egg on stage

Cathy Newman

Channel 4’s first female news anchor discusses trailblazing women, internet trolls, sexual assault and her new book The Ladder

FEATURES

Gothic delights

Elizabeth Sharkey

Exploring the history of a genre that first bewitched Elizabeth as a teenage Joy Division fan

The politics of colour

Tina Gharavi

Tina Gharavi’s full response to the controversy surrounding Queen Cleopatra, a Netflix series about the identity of the legendary last pharaoh

FILM

Dressing for doomsday

Christobel Kent

POETRY

Hermeneutics by Rebecca Hurst

Things to Consider in the Design of Your First Space Suit by Harry Man

There's a Walrus on My Windscreen by Ian Humphreys

Tight Little Island by Rishi Dastidar

I Am Waiting For You by Risalet Merdan

ART

Raye against the machine

Laura Barton

CULTURE

The author Interview

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Helen Brown

“For too long, women writing literary fiction – especially the funny kind – were not being taken seriously”

Amanda Craig

Discusses older women and her new book The Three Graces

Sarah Hall

The acclaimed novelist discusses her Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted novel Helm, writing a "strange biography" of Britain's only named wind, climate collapse and "radical optimism," and why sorority is the key to consolidating power shifts and positive change

Hanna Pylväinen

Whiting Award and Balcones Fiction Prize-winner discusses her strict Lutheran upbringing and her novel The End of Drum-Time

Bee Wilson

The food writer, journalist, author and charity campaigner for TastEd discusses festive family rituals, celebrating Christmas as a newly single parent and her first recipe book

FEATURES