menu_open Columnists

iNews

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Farage is sounding more desperate than ever - these figures explain why

Farage is sounding more desperate than ever - these figures explain why

Andrea Rizzi, a journalist with Spain’s El Pais newspaper, put it best. The global right wing, he wrote as footage of thousands of migrants arriving...

latest 9

iNews

James O'Brien

Netanyahu’s to blame for his American nightmare – and it spells his doom

Netanyahu’s to blame for his American nightmare – and it spells his doom

Welcome to Power Players, The i Paper’s opinion series in which our writers and experts take an in-depth look at the key figures in American...

latest 7

iNews

James Ball

My disastrous lunch in Venice with Rod Liddle

My disastrous lunch in Venice with Rod Liddle

Of all the characteristics that defined Rod Liddle, none was as befitting as his devoted support of Millwall FC, whose anthem, sung loudly and...

yesterday 10

iNews

Simon Kelner

The triple lock is no longer fighting pensioner poverty

The triple lock is no longer fighting pensioner poverty

The welfare bill is big and getting bigger. We now spend over £330bn a year on all forms of welfare combined. For the last 13 years, welfare spending...

yesterday 8

iNews

Mark Wallace

Farage just said something that undermines his entire political project

Farage just said something that undermines his entire political project

Like an extended voice note from a friend you fell out with but can’t remember why, Rupert Lowe posted a 12-minute-long video on X asking Nigel...

previous day 10

iNews

Kitty Donaldson

Farage’s political future hangs on three big 'ifs'

Farage’s political future hangs on three big 'ifs'

Without Nigel Farage, Reform UK wouldn’t have won a single seat in the 2024 election. His return as leader – the most dramatic moment in the...

previous day 1

iNews

Michael Crick

Britain is in a global conflict with Russia and China, whether we admit it or not

Britain is in a global conflict with Russia and China, whether we admit it or not

Ten years ago, Belarus launched its one and only communications satellite. It was made by China, sent into the skies from a spaceport in Sichuan...

previous day 10

iNews

Ian Birrell

The podcast bro whose toxic slurry of sexism targets impressionable young men

The podcast bro whose toxic slurry of sexism targets impressionable young men

Who broke Britain? Welcome to The i Paper’s opinion series in which experts and writers debate the issues that concern them about modern Britain....

previous day 10

iNews

Emily Watkins

Gianni Infantino's failure is delicious - but we shouldn't celebrate too soon

Gianni Infantino's failure is delicious - but we shouldn't celebrate too soon

Gianni Infantino has an extraordinary gift. Whenever it feels like football is in danger of becoming just another business, Fifa’s president manages...

sunday 10

iNews

Stefano Hatfield

JD Vance is blowing his chance to be president

JD Vance is blowing his chance to be president

Vice President JD Vance and Israeli Pime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting in Washington designed to clear the air between them this week....

01.08.2026 10

iNews

Sarah Baxter

The city that shows devolution can work (and it's not Manchester)

The city that shows devolution can work (and it's not Manchester)

This is Dispatches with Patrick Cockburn, a subscriber-only newsletter from The i Paper. If you’d like to get this direct to your inbox, every...

01.08.2026 10

iNews

Patrick Cockburn

Even I am considered disabled - what qualifies for PIP has to change

Even I am considered disabled - what qualifies for PIP has to change

Given she has been the most consistent figure in British politics in the past 20 years, Louise Casey is worth listening to far more than any of the...

31.07.2026 10

iNews

Isabel Hardman

Trump might be on the verge of his greatest diplomatic success

Trump might be on the verge of his greatest diplomatic success

Donald Trump’s strategic failure in Iran could – accidentally – become his greatest diplomatic success. His attack on Iran revealed the limits...

30.07.2026 10

iNews

Alexander Dragonetti

You'll pay for Burnham's social care plan - here's how

You'll pay for Burnham's social care plan - here's how

This is Armchair Economics with Hamish McRae, a subscriber-only newsletter from The i Paper. If you’d like to get this direct to your inbox,...

30.07.2026 10

iNews

Hamish McRae

The only British institution you’re still not allowed to criticise

The only British institution you’re still not allowed to criticise

Here they go again. Last month, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton notified a House of Lords Committee that our armed forces would be depleted and...

29.07.2026 10

iNews

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

I was brainwashed into getting Botox – until I realised the grubby truth

I was brainwashed into getting Botox – until I realised the grubby truth

Booking my first-ever appointment for under-eye filler felt as casual as booking my next haircut. It would only take a matter of minutes, there would...

29.07.2026 5

iNews

Eleanor Halls

The Antichrist-obsessed billionaire who eased JD Vance into the White House

The Antichrist-obsessed billionaire who eased JD Vance into the White House

Welcome to Power Players, The i Paper’s opinion series in which our writers and experts take an in-depth look at the key figures in American...

29.07.2026 7

iNews

Dave Karpf

A death tax 'doom loop' threatens Burnham's biggest policy gamble

A death tax 'doom loop' threatens Burnham's biggest policy gamble

Leasing Linda, the robot carer in Diane Morgan’s terrific new BBC comedy Ann Droid, allows owner Sue to stay at home after she breaks her wrist....

28.07.2026 20

iNews

Kitty Donaldson

Flag-hanging bozos will hate this, but genuine patriots like me at last feel hope

Flag-hanging bozos will hate this, but genuine patriots like me at last feel hope

Michael Frayn wrote it, John Cleese delivered it and I currently find myself thinking of it every time Andy Burnham opens his mouth. “It’s not the...

28.07.2026 20

iNews

James O'Brien

The real migration crisis that the Right doesn't want you to know about

The real migration crisis that the Right doesn't want you to know about

Though we are suffering from the worst of the heat this summer, perhaps we need to be looking more urgently at the implications of the demographic...

28.07.2026 10

iNews

Robert Fox

The Girl Guide uniform change sends a dangerous message to our children

The Girl Guide uniform change sends a dangerous message to our children

Girlguiding has launched a new uniform for all its members with a focus on “self-expression, belonging and confidence”. The new clothes, in bright...

27.07.2026 10

iNews

Ella Whelan

I thought confidence would come with age. At 52, I realised I was wrong

I thought confidence would come with age. At 52, I realised I was wrong

Okay, I’ve waited long enough. This is getting beyond a joke. Where is it? I have just turned 52. Where, oh where, is the no-f*cks-to-give era that...

27.07.2026 10

iNews

Lucy Mangan

Burnham’s circuit breaker has to start here

Burnham’s circuit breaker has to start here

When Andy Burnham stood outside Downing Street last week, having achieved his long-held ambition to lead this country, he told us that he was “a...

27.07.2026 10

iNews

Ian Birrell

Dua Lipa: the 'magical thinker' unwittingly making Britain’s young women miserable

Dua Lipa: the 'magical thinker' unwittingly making Britain’s young women miserable

Who broke Britain? Welcome to The i Paper’s opinion series in which experts and writers debate the issues that concern them about modern Britain....

27.07.2026 10

iNews

Pravina Rudra

Burnham's showdown with Trump is closer than he thinks

Burnham's showdown with Trump is closer than he thinks

When it comes to the new Prime Minister’s dealing with his American counterpart Carly Simon’s “Coming Around Again” is the soundtrack, even if...

26.07.2026 20

iNews

Anne McElvoy

The real scandal behind the hosepipe ban

The real scandal behind the hosepipe ban

Here we go again: eight water companies have now introduced a hosepipe ban. Somehow, this rain-lashed island has once again contrived to run out of...

26.07.2026 20

iNews

Stefano Hatfield

The moment my appearance changed forever - and thank god it did

The moment my appearance changed forever - and thank god it did

I was in my hotel room getting ready to go downstairs and join a dear friend’s 40th birthday party when it started. My hair was falling out and...

26.07.2026 10

iNews

Victoria Derbyshire

One word that shows how much damage the Epstein scandal has done to Trump

One word that shows how much damage the Epstein scandal has done to Trump

President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt had a one-word answer about whether the White House would intervene in the UK extradition...

25.07.2026 20

iNews

Sarah Baxter

An Iranian missile attack on the UK is no longer far fetched

An Iranian missile attack on the UK is no longer far fetched

This is Dispatches with Patrick Cockburn, a subscriber-only newsletter from The i Paper. If you’d like to get this direct to your inbox, every...

25.07.2026 40

iNews

Patrick Cockburn

After quitting Loose Women I was 'washed up'. Then I lost all my money

Like so many of life’s disasters, it happened slowly, then all at once. We lost our business during Covid. It was the business I had left my...

24.07.2026 8

iNews

Andrea McLean

There's only one word to describe the Burnham critics (but they won't like it)

As a Dundee United and Scotland football supporter I am well used to seeing my hopes raised and continuously dashed. Despite myself, however, there...

24.07.2026 10

iNews

Lorraine Kelly

I went to my first sex party expecting debauchery - I found something very different

It was a cold Sunday in November when I went to my first sex party. It had been on my bucket list ever since I became single and decided I was going...

24.07.2026 10

iNews

Poppy Jay

Burnham won't upset pensioners. He may end up upsetting everyone else

Does Andy Burnham’s claim this week that his government is a “second chance at a first impression” make any sense? What the new Prime Minister...

23.07.2026 10

iNews

Isabel Hardman

The surprising truth about driverless cars – after two weeks using them

When did everything become “amazing”? I was told by a sales assistant the other day that putting in my PIN number was “amazing”. A flight...

23.07.2026 10

iNews

Simon Kelner

I'm in the 'Oxbridge elite' like Burnham's Cabinet. It doesn't mean we're clever enough to rule

Last month, Andy Burnham promised us a government where “all parts of the party and the country – can see themselves reflected and represented in...

22.07.2026 20

iNews

Pravina Rudra

Burnham's carnival of optimism isn't as disturbing as it looks

There’s something disarming about the emotional tenor of this Government. In the background, it is composed of pain, asphyxiation and horror. But in...

22.07.2026 20

iNews

Ian Dunt

What Diana revealed to me about William – and the type of King he'll become

It’s still a thing. Becoming a teenager. And today Prince George is 13. But he’s launching into this new chapter from a far more secure base than...

22.07.2026 20

iNews

Jennie Bond

The manipulative American habit we're quietly importing

There may not be anywhere in the world that the well-travelled Brit feels more like an innocent abroad than in a coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard in...

22.07.2026 20

iNews

Simon Kelner

Elon Musk’s latest humiliation is a thing of beauty

Christopher Nolan, the British-American director, has perfect Aryan features – Nordic, blue eyes, blonde hair, a symmetrical face. And is, at...

22.07.2026 20

iNews

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

The anti-woke bulldog driving Trump's fight against progress

In the middle of January, anti-ICE protesters disrupted Sunday worship at Cities Church in St Paul, Minnesota. The video went viral within hours, and...

22.07.2026 10

iNews

Sarah Jones

The Labour WhatsApp groups plotting Burnham’s next headache

Andy Burnham’s brutal reshuffle achieved what Sir Keir Starmer never could: creating a faction of Starmerites. And they’re already showing their...

21.07.2026 50

iNews

Kitty Donaldson

Farage is totally inauthentic. Burnham really can beat him

My A-Level politics teacher told a story about Harold Wilson that I so wanted to be accurate, I haven’t dared check its provenance until just now....

21.07.2026 20

iNews

James O'Brien

Kwasi Kwarteng: Five things not to do as chancellor (I should know)

Andy Burnham surprised the pundits of Westminster by shrewdly appointing John Healey as Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday. At 66, Healey is the...

21.07.2026 20

iNews

Kwasi Kwarteng

The question about Andy Burnham is how long his luck can hold

Napoleon famously said: “I would rather have a lucky general than a good general.” He would probably have approved of Andy Burnham as a lucky...

21.07.2026 10

iNews

Patrick Cockburn

Farage can truly terrify Burnham – with two simple changes

Burnham vs Farage is set to be the great personal battle of the next three years of British politics. Both are formidable charismatic communicators,...

20.07.2026 10

iNews

Michael Crick

Andy Burham’s tedious centrist dad act is falling apart already

Authenticity is rare in politics. Andy Burnham, soon to be the UK’s new prime minister, who reminds us frequently he is dead northern, would like us...

20.07.2026 10

iNews

Peter Cardwell

Burnham must admit Britain isn't as powerful as we think we are

Andy Burnham’s career so far has been built around public services, devolution, and the relationship between government and its citizens. At first...

20.07.2026 10

iNews

Alexander Dragonetti

The Med is too hot for tourists - but Britain isn't ready for the staycation boom

I’m writing from Sardinia, where the temperature is again almost 40°C. By lunchtime, the streets are empty. Even on local beaches, parents shepherd...

20.07.2026 10

iNews

Stefano Hatfield

The Tory who sold off Britain’s greatest assets – then told us to take back control

Who broke Britain? Welcome to The i Paper’s opinion series in which experts and writers debate the issues that concern them about modern Britain....

20.07.2026 20

iNews

Andrew Fisher

The first pitfall of Burnham's premiership is already in sight

What bliss it is for Labour to have a “hopey-changey” new start. That accusation of vibes-based politics was first hurled at former US president...

19.07.2026 20

iNews

Anne McElvoy