While there is no denying the magnitude of his achievements, his legacy is also tied up in politics, propaganda and hard power

Well, that’s that then. Put out more flags. Mount the iconic Jedi‑style woollen cardigan in the club museum. He really does seem to be done this time.

In the absence of formal denials, it now seems highly likely the scheduled final year of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City contract will be spent trawling the high-concept food ateliers of the Iberian peninsula, debating spatial architecture with a Slovenian Cluedo grandmaster over hummingbird martinis, and generally recharging after a decade of unceasing devotion to victory.

Continue reading...

PM’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, among aides briefed on investigation into reporters writing about Labour Together

Keir Starmer’s most senior advisers were briefed about an “indefensible” investigation into journalists writing critical pieces about the Labour Together thinktank, according to a newly released document.

Among the aides who received updates on the probe, commissioned by the thinktank’s director, Josh Simons, were Morgan McSweeney, the former chief of staff to the prime minister.

Continue reading...

⚽️ Europa League final updates from the 8pm BST kick-off
⚽️ Freiburg lowdown | The Europa League king | Mail Scott

… so that’s the same Villa XI that started the second-leg win over Nottingham Forest, and last Friday’s evisceration of Liverpool. Not a huge surprise: Villa scored four goals in both of those matches. Viktor Lindelof keeps his place in midfield, and that keeps Amadou Onana on the bench.

Freiburg: to come

Continue reading...

The world has changed dramatically since the Brexit referendum and politics needs to catch up

The spectacle of a prime minister clinging to power while his party grows increasingly desperate for a replacement is painfully familiar from the end of the last Tory government. British politics feels trapped in a loop. This condition is not wholly a result of Brexit, but the failure of that project is a significant part of it. None of the benefits promised in the referendum by the leave campaign have materialised. It is all downside, but political discussion of any significant rewriting of the terms of departure is taboo. Sir Keir Starmer’s “reset” of European relations is mostly tinkering at the margins.

Meanwhile, the strategic calculus has changed entirely since 2016. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine exposed European complacency about continental defence and energy security. Donald Trump’s aggressive contempt for old allies makes it clear that they cannot depend on the US for protection.

Continue reading...

Tien voorstellingen zijn door de Nederlandse Toneeljury genoemd als de meest indrukwekkende van het afgelopen theaterseizoen. De grote gezelschappen en vrouwelijke makers voeren de boventoon. Volgens de jury geeft de selectie aan hoe „breed, verrassend én geëngageerd het podiumkunstaanbod in Nederland is”.