For five days in December 1952, London gasped for air. A toxic fog smothered the British capital, paralyzing the city and blackening out the sun. Take a look back at the worst air pollution disaster in British history, which is estimated to have killed...
London and Brussels appear headed for stalemate two days before a European Union summit to discuss Britain’s vote to leave. With Europe’s leaders divided over how to negotiate Brexit and Britain apparently reluctant to initiate formal talks on leaving,...
“That one frightens me to death,” said Mary Dyer, the 80-year-old chairman of Tintagel parish council. “It looks terrifying. I’m not sure if I’d be brave enough to walk across it, especially if it is windy. Now this one I like. It looks much safer and...
A cross-party group of MPs have called on the Chancellor Philip Hammond to commit to spending £350 million a week on the NHS after Brexit. The pledge to inject cash into the health service, which was advocated by the Vote Leave campaign throughout the...
Elue Premier ministre britannique en 1979, Margareth Thatcher lance le pays dans une politique de libéralisation à outrance : déréglementation des prix, des salaires, de la finance, privatisations, réduction du pouvoir des syndicats, etc. Une politique...
The prospect of a parliamentary fightback against the result of the EU referendumgathered pace on Sunday, with pro-remain figures saying they would not “roll over and give up”. Some are urging a second referendum after Brexit negotiations have taken place....
Eight centuries after her predecessor King John was forced “at the point of the sword” to agree to Magna Carta, the Queen is visiting the green meadow on the bank of the river Thames where the historic document was sealed on 15 June 1215. Thousands are...
Queen Elizabeth II will overtake Queen Victoria as the UK's longest serving monarch this week. Between them, they have reigned for more than 125 years. There are many parallels between the pair, as well as some marked differences. Young Queens VICTORIA...
The Suez Crisis was precipitated by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s decision in July 1956 to nationalize the 120-mile Suez Canal, which had been jointly controlled by Great Britain and France, in part to fund construction of the Aswan Dam across...
Plans to move MPs and peers out of parliament for six years of repairs to the Palace of Westminster could end up costing more than £4bn, as a report on the restoration works put no firm price tag on the project. Tina Stowell, who co-leads the joint committee...
In 1968, the science journal The Lancet ran a report into human behaviour. When populations are confronted with disaster, it recommended, effective “communications, coordination, and control, and the establishment of a recognised authority” are of utmost...
Le Premier ministre britannique sera-t-il pris à son propre piège ? En 2013, il avait promis, s’il était réélu, la tenue d’un référendum sur le maintien du Royaume-Uni dans l’Union européenne (UE) d’ici la fin de 2017. Son pari : assurer une victoire...
Eleanor Marx changed the world and in so-doing revolutionised herself. Internationalist, socialist, feminist, trade unionist – I’m compelled to write about a great British historical hero because she’s so relevant. Born in 1855 in a garret to poor political...
The party of Robert Walpole and Charles James Fox has newly registered as a re-born political party under leader Waleed Ghani. Mr Ghani and Jesse Norman, Conservative MP - and biographer of one of the great Whigs, Edmund Burke - discuss the Whigs' rebirth....
From Harfleur to Agincourt: flashback on a victorious progress Mid-summer 1415, King Henry V of England sails across the Channel and lands with his troops at Harfleur « the key to the kingdom of France ». Harfleur was supposed to prevent the English enemy...
My Lords and members of the House of Commons. My government will legislate in the interests of everyone in our country. It will adopt a one nation approach, helping working people get on, supporting aspiration, giving new opportunities to the most disadvantaged...
The imprints of the once vast ancient Roman Empire have made their presence known in discoveries this week across Europe. Construction of the future HS2 high-speed railway line in England unveiled the remains of a large Roman trading settlement that dates...
The series of intermittent conflicts between France and England that took place during the 14th and 15th centuries wasn’t classified as the “Hundred Years’ War” until 1823. Traditionally, the war is said to have begun in 1337 when Philip VI attempted...
Medieval monarchs are remembered as powerful rulers, with a tyrannical control of land, nobles, and riches. They were strong figures, in control of their realm and their lives. However, medieval rulers also existed in a daily display of that power and...
Ten sixty-six is the most memorable date in English history. On October 14 that year Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, and most of his army were cut down at the Battle of Hastings, and William, Duke of Normandy earned his nickname “William...
England and Wales look like one country on Friday, with a clear if smallish majority for leaving the EU having been counted on both sides of Offa’s Dyke. But Scotland, where very nearly two in three voters and every counting area wanted to stay in, looks...
“What’s the EU ever done for us?” Zak Kelly, 21, asks me this standing next to a brand new complex of buildings and facilities that wouldn’t look out of place in Canary Wharf. It’s not Canary Wharf, though, it’s Ebbw Vale, a former steel town of 18,000...
Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since 1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth. The two half-sisters, both daughters of King Henry VIII, had a stormy relationship during Mary’s five-year reign. Mary, who was...
Les rois ne devraient jamais quitter leur palais. C’est souvent pendant leur absence que les catastrophes surviennent. Il suffit qu’Elizabeth II s’absente pour une visite à Berlin, mercredi 24 juin, pour que s’accumulent deux mauvaises nouvelles. L’une...
If I say or write the phrase “Celtic art”, you know exactly what I mean. The word “Celt”, or “Celtic”, instantly conjures an image as recognisable as “Greek” or “Roman”. The twining tendrils found in the Book of Kells, the fabulously elaborate vellum...
