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Stock markets tumble further as oil prices soar above 100 dollars a barrel

Brent crude soared by 15% to 107 dollars a barrel, having at one stage reached nearly 120 dollars in levels not seen since the summer of 2022. London’s FTSE 100…

Oil prices race above 100 dollars a barrel as Iran conflict escalates

Starmer acknowledges concerns as Iran war threatens to impact cost of living

Travel disruption to continue after blaze near Glasgow Central station

High Court trial against Gerry Adams set to begin

Starmer to reassure public as Iran conflict enters tenth day

‘We’d love to host Brit Awards for years’, says Co-op Live boss

Gender-affirming hormone treatment for children halted by NHS

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COMMENT

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Sonia Sodha

Breaking the class ceiling

Aspiration and social mobility were at the heart of Tony Blair’s “education, education, education” pitch in 1997. They are similarly echoed in Keir Starmer’s vision for Britain: he has repeatedly framed his desire to be…

Simon Heffer

An age without rival

It wasn’t long before Hallowe’en that I noted many of the significant women in my life – including my wife and the editrix of this august publication – were devoting…

Monique Roffey

Only connect

Last month I went to Susheila Nasta’s 70th birthday party in Greenwich, south-east London. I’d…

Guy Shrubsole

English pastoral

Guy Shrubsole explores England’s buried tradition of land reform, where less than one percent of…

Khaled Bazzi

Where hope takes root

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

Sam Fowles

Unfree speech

Free speech is “under threat”, or so we are continually told. Under threat from whom?…

Sam Fowles

Time’s arrow

“Lest we forget” is carved into stone in village squares, town halls and city monuments…

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For some of the world’s best independent writing on the stories and ideas shaping our world

COMMENT

Sonia Sodha

Breaking the class ceiling

Aspiration and social mobility were at the heart of Tony…

Simon Heffer

New protest laws would be extreme

Having been bored into a stupor by a supposedly Conservative…

Sarah Hall

Natural hazards

The first novel that truly affected me as a young reader was eschatological in nature.…

Nathaniel Tapley

Cradle of libertines

England likes to think of itself as “the cradle of liberty”. True, if you think…

Rowan Pelling

Letter from the editor

It often feels there are only three topics worth discussing: sex, death and freedom. And…

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Perspectives

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Free as a bird

Keggie Carew

A meditation on our complex relationship with wildness

Squeezed dry

Claudia Cockerell

The water companies have drained the coffers as well as the rivers

My generation’s missing out on the naughties

Róisín Lanigan

Faux fizz

Rebecca Gibb

The dishonourable history of wine fraud, from fake bubbly to bogus Bordeaux

Perspectives

Snob value

Philip Hensher

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

Talking back to Big Brother

Laura Dodsworth

Trust is a two-way process and self-reliance is needed to counter government overreach

Roaring Olympics

Boris Starling

One hundred years since the last Paris Games

Falling short of the Four Freedoms

Boris Starling

How Britain is failing Roosevelt's benchmark for a healthy democracy

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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

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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 TCE

BY

Ben Wilson

Pasquale Paoli

The Corsican guerilla commander who inspired the modern quest for charismatic political leaders

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - Q&As

Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Historian, biographer, novelist

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Robert Peston

ITV News political editor and presenter of Peston

Ed Balls

Economist, broadcaster and former cabinet minister

Ronni Ancona

Comedian, actress and filmmaker

Lucy Easthope

Disaster planner and recovery expert

DBC Pierre

Booker Prize-winning author

Vince Cable

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

Ed Vaizey

Member of the House of Lords

Katie Brand

Award-winning writer and comedian

Mike Figgis

Film director, composer, musician

Jeremy Paxman

Journalist, broadcaster and quizmaster

Chris van Tulleken

Doctor, author and science presenter

Zandra Rhodes

Fashion designer

Jeremy Bowen

International Editor of BBC News

Wasfi Kani, CBE

Founder of Pimlico Opera and Grange Park Opera

Rosie Holt

Comedian and actress

Daniel Howell

Author, entertainer and comedian

Wynne Evans

Opera singer and radio presenter

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE – Q&As

Craig Brown

Author and satirist

Vince Cable

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

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Sally Phillips

The much-loved UK actress on comedy, faith, disability and Christmas

Jeremy Paxman

Journalist, broadcaster and quizmaster

Ronni Ancona

Comedian, actress and filmmaker

Wasfi Kani, CBE

Founder of Pimlico Opera and Grange Park Opera

Doon Mackichan

actress, comedian, author

Wynne Evans

Opera singer and radio presenter

Chris van Tulleken

Doctor, author and science presenter

Dan Snow

Historian and TV presenter

Joanna Lumley

Actress, campaigner and national treasure

Zandra Rhodes

Fashion designer

Lord David Owen

Former foreign secretary and co-founder of the SDP

Phil Hammond

Doctor, comedian, journalist

Ed Vaizey

Member of the House of Lords

Katie Brand

Award-winning writer and comedian

Ed Balls

Economist, broadcaster and former cabinet minister

Daniel Howell

Author, entertainer and comedian

Bobby Seagull

Maths teacher, author and TV broadcaster

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CULTURE

MORE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

Author Interview - Front Page The author Interview

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Helen Brown

“Most people, most of the time, are if not collaborators then co-operators with the ruling regime”

Mary Beard

The classicist, Cambridge don and trustee of the British Museum discusses flamingo-brain feasts, gender surgery in antiquity and her new book Emperor of Rome

Hanna Pylväinen

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

Naomi Alderman

The novelist, gamer and Bailey Women’s Prize winner discusses tech billionaires, apocalypse bunkers, her fans Obama and Gates, and her new book The Future

Francesca Beauman

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

FEATURES

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

There’s always whisky

Miranda Seymour

Jean Rhys, literary genius and trouble alcoholic

FILM

Fevered imagination

Anne Billson

STYLE

Girls will be boys

Christobel Kent

POETRY

Blood Moon by Gillian Clarke

Hermeneutics by Rebecca Hurst

I Am Waiting For You by Risalet Merdan

Tight Little Island by Rishi Dastidar

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

ART

The art of perturbation

Rachel Campbell Johnston

MUSIC

Raye against the machine

Laura Barton

CULTURE

The author Interview

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Helen Brown

“While there was no shortage of women writers getting published, their novels weren’t being honoured like the ones men were writing”

Kate Mosse

Kate Mosse discusses the new women’s prize for non-fiction and her latest novel The Ghost Ship with Helen Brown

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

Tessa Hadley

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

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

FEATURES