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Simon Jenkins

Simon Jenkins

The Guardian

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Starmer wants the economy to grow, baby, grow. Woe betide the ‘blockers’ who get in his way

Starmer wants the economy to grow, baby, grow. Woe betide the ‘blockers’ who get in his way
24.01.2025 9

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

The government wants to future-proof the BBC. How about embracing a subscription model?

The government wants to future-proof the BBC. How about embracing a subscription model?
17.01.2025 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Making law is about the head, not the heart. I don’t want MPs offering personal testimony

Recently, John Healey, the relatively new defence secretary, made a personal confession. He told how his son’s current military service “plays on...

07.01.2025 20

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Here’s a tip for the world’s politicians: sorry shouldn’t be the hardest word

The Korean chief executive of Jeju Air, Kim E-bae, could not have been more direct. After the crash of one of the airline’s planes he went straight...

30.12.2024 2

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Potholes everywhere, shoplifters rampant – today’s Britain looks as broken as it feels

Every day in Britain the police are failing to arrest about 670 shoplifters. Down the road, your median wait in A&E is three hours. Meanwhile the...

27.12.2024 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

If you’ve got children, you need to watch Swiped – and see how sick their phones are making them

Every parent of a school-age child should watch Swiped, the Channel 4 documentary on smartphones shown last week. It was devastating. It told of an...

17.12.2024 80

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Labour’s ‘planning laws reform’ is really an attack on local democracy

All proper democracies have two tiers, central and local. They are equally vital, but in Britain the second tier is all but dead. Local democracy...

09.12.2024 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Biden pardons his son, Trump will absolve his criminal allies. America shouldn’t stand for this

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Yes, any father might do the same for a son. Yes, the boy is reformed, forgiven, on the mend. Only nasty people are...

02.12.2024 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

It’s outrageous that religious faith is being brought into the assisted dying debate

I recently attended memorial services for two friends. Both died after long illnesses, and the services were naturally sad. But the subsequent...

25.11.2024 40

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

The west’s reckless escalation of the war in Ukraine will cause more suffering, for no strategic gain

This is how big wars start, when small ones go wrong. Nato politicians are deliberately playing with fire along the Ukrainian frontier, as UK-made...

21.11.2024 2

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Construction is the world’s biggest carbon emitter, yet Labour still refuses to tackle it

You can damn oil companies, abuse cars, insult nimbys, kill cows, befoul art galleries. But you must never, ever criticise the worst offender of...

19.11.2024 20

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

What should Biden do with his remaining time? Get a peace deal done in Ukraine

First the good news. The US is talking to Russia. Then the bad. Vladimir Putin has been phoned not by the current US president, but by a known...

12.11.2024 20

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Yes, Trump is terrible. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s a chance for progressives to reflect on what they got wrong

Yes, we all know it looks terrible. We have heard what Donald Trump has promised. But could there be silver linings to these ominous clouds? The...

08.11.2024 30

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

A huge, hideous Canary Wharf by Regent’s Park: this could be the result of Labour’s plan for HS2

The face said it all. As Rachel Reeves listed the infrastructure projects being funded by her first budget, she could not even say how much the...

01.11.2024 7

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

It’s easy for the British to insult Donald Trump – but here’s why it’s a very bad idea

Is it wise for Britons to heap abuse on Donald Trump? At present he is the marginal favourite to win next week’s US presidential election –...

28.10.2024 3

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

The Church of England is panicking about declining congregations – here’s what it should do instead

The Church of England is in a state of “panic and fear”, of “deep anxiety”, and should stop being obsessed with numbers and face the reality...

24.10.2024 4

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Could we all be as positive as Chris Hoy facing death? Perhaps knowing when we will go changes everything

We can all sympathise with Chris Hoy for his terminal cancer, and admire the manner in which he revealed it. Dignity so rarely goes with celebrity....

21.10.2024 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Pylons rule and rural beauty is up for sale. Why do those in power so hate the countryside?

Does Labour believe in beauty? The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, celebrated his arrival in office this summer by permitting three of the largest...

18.10.2024 40

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Starmer’s House of Lords reform only scratches the surface of its problems

Nothing reveals Britain’s aversion to change quite like its failure to reform the House of Lords. Since the turn of the 21st century, almost...

14.10.2024 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Sudan’s forgotten war is bloody and horrifying – but US bombs aren’t the way to stop it

It is the most sickening league table on Earth. Which of the world’s three current major wars has resulted in the most deaths? On the latest...

11.10.2024 40

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Britain needs to abandon its delusions of empire – giving up the Chagos Islands is a good start

The British empire still sends governments mad. Labour’s Foreign Office minister in charge of its lasting shreds, Stephen Doughty, has granted...

08.10.2024 20

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Former PMs have a wealth of experience. Why not put some on the Tory leadership ballot?

Why is William Hague not standing as Tory leader rather than mere chancellor of Oxford? He is hale and hearty at 63. Is David Cameron also over the...

01.10.2024 5

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Britain’s prehistoric attitude to drugs isn’t working. Why not learn from Texas?

What can a German do but a Briton cannot? What can a New Yorker, a Chicagoan and a San Franciscan do, but a Londoner cannot? What can Canadians,...

29.09.2024 20

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Working from home is the great social experiment of our age – it’s too soon for the state to wade in

What’s not to like about working from home? No commuting. More flexibility. Wear jeans. The boss can’t pester you. It’s a social revolution and...

23.09.2024 9

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Sue Gray’s salary isn’t the problem – it’s the backstage power struggle Starmer cannot afford

The most remarkable feature of the Sue Gray saga is not how much the Downing Street chief of staff earns, but how little Britain’s prime minister...

19.09.2024 4

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Keir Starmer’s missile bravado could jeapordise Nato’s careful balancing act in Ukraine

The greatest disaster to emerge from the war in Ukraine would be a collapsed Nato. For the prime minister, Keir Starmer, to be signalling confusion...

16.09.2024 5

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Bankrupt and ravaged by student mental illness, Britain’s universities are badly in need of reform

Forget the NHS for a minute – and look to Britain’s universities, another institution in urgent need of fixing. A number are on the brink of...

13.09.2024 50

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

This winter fuel fiasco will save Labour £1.3bn this year. But it will cost Starmer more

Should the pensioners’ winter fuel allowance be cut? For most people it’s a simple question, though most people’s opinion is of no account. For...

09.09.2024 2

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Want justice for the victims of Grenfell? It’s now clearer than ever that public inquiries are not the answer

What is justice for Grenfell? After seven years of public inquiry we have a 1,700-page report and a cost of more than £200m. We have had...

05.09.2024 4

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

What Blair can teach Starmer: pick your battles early, and surround yourself with experts

What can Keir Starmer learn from Tony Blair? He hit the ground running in handling last month’s rightwing riots over immigration. He rolled the...

02.09.2024 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Kemi Badenoch wants to drag the Tories further right. That is a huge mistake

Politics never ends. Today the selection begins of the leader of the opposition and thus possibly the next British prime minister. The pollsters’...

29.07.2024 10

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Keir Starmer, please – scrap the distasteful weekly brawl that is PMQs

Boring. That was the universal response to Wednesday’s first prime minister’s questions of the new parliament. Where was the screaming,...

25.07.2024 6

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

Kamala Harris is no dominating leader – but that may be her biggest strength

Kamala Harris is now the frontrunner to be the Democratic party’s candidate for the most powerful job in the world. She appears sorely...

22.07.2024 3

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins

It’s worrying to see the prime minister cheerleading for war. Will Ukraine turn into Starmer’s Iraq?

When Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, a few foreign events were arranged to glamorise his arrival. He visited a Nato summit and promised to...

15.07.2024 3

The Guardian

Simon Jenkins